


Going Underground

by rentasofa



Series: Going Underground [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Complete, Double Dating, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Grief/Mourning, Implied Smut, Little bit of angst, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Modern Era, Mother's Day, Pride and Prejudice References, Rating May Change, Rey Likes Fanfiction, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Space Wars, Unplanned Pregnancy, Valentine's Day, a year in the life, background Hux/Phasma, children's birthday parties, rey is awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-10-04 17:10:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 83,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20474609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rentasofa/pseuds/rentasofa
Summary: Rey Bennet has just moved to Coruscant to start her new life, but despite being surrounded by people and really enjoying her job at Resistance Business Solutions, she's lonely. Might her life change forever when she finds herself drawn to a very tall man dressed in black on the tube?A year in the life of Rey as she navigates life and love on the Coruscant Underground.





	1. September

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I'm back with a new story in my favourite genre, modern.  
This is a long one but hopefully worth it.  
Quite a bit of this is based on my real life so it is quite personal.  
As always with my stories, there are references to different things not just Star Wars, so if you spot any please leave a comment down below.  
With all that out the way, let's get started. Enjoy!

The alarm on her phone went off at half past six, the music too cheery for this time in the morning. It continued to vibrate against the seat of the plastic fold up chair that was serving as a bedside table until Rey found it within herself to roll over and switch it off.

She grimaced as she removed her eye mask only to be met by the bright early morning sunlight that was coming in through the cracks in her blinds. Usually not a morning person, she wanted nothing more than to curl back up under the duvet and go back to sleep, but that wasn’t an option today, or any day in the future really, because today was Rey’s first day at her new job in the city.

At twenty two and fresh out of university, Rey had worked extremely hard to break free of both her personal situation and growing up in a deprived rural area, to land a job in Coruscant.

Rey sat up and yawned, stretching until she heard her back click. The sofa bed she was sleeping on creaked as she got up. It was uncomfortable but had come with the room she had moved into three days ago, so it would have to do for now.

The whole place was very small. She could almost reach the fridge without getting out of bed if she wanted to. She had also realised it was south facing, so the summer sun had made the room very hot the past couple of days.

But Rey didn’t mind. She would be at work most of the time so just needed an affordable place to sleep that was near a tube station on the correct underground line.

The smallness suited Rey though. She didn’t have much stuff of her own. The only luxury she allowed herself while searching for somewhere to live was to get a room with an en suite. For once in her life she was going to have her own bathroom.

Rey brushed the knots out of her hair and had a nice refreshing shower, then excitedly got dressed for her first day at work.

Since she had found out she had got the job at Resistance Business Solutions, she had been going through charity shops and sale sections, putting together a work wardrobe. She was quite pleased with what she had found. It made her feel like a proper adult.

Rey put on a white blouse and brown pencil skirt. She put her hair up into three buns. Rey knew it was an unusual style but it made her feel confident, plus the fact it was out of the way and she couldn’t play with it. Then because she had a bit of extra time, she put on a bit of makeup.

Her bag was waiting for her by the front door having been packed the night before with all the paperwork Rey thought she might need. The only thing that was missing was her phone, which she unplugged and throw inside. Rey grabbed her keys and put on her new black court shoes and headed out the door.

It was a short walk to the station and Rey was surprised by the number of people heading to the station as well. She had assumed that it would be quiet being that it was barely half past seven, it usually was where she used to live. Things were definitely different in the city.

She swiped her travel card at the barrier and made her way down to the platform. Rey found it funny that she was waiting for an underground train on an open air platform. Still, it was a sunny morning, it would be a different story when it was raining.

Having done her research, Rey had found out that the best carriage to get on was the front carriage, because it was furthest away from the entrance. There were only a couple of people waiting at the far end of the platform, so Rey couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug that she had stumbled onto a secret.

The first train that approached was going to the east of the city, she needed to get on the next one that was going to the west side. A few people got on, but she could see through the window that there were still plenty of seats left in the first carriage.

Rey got on the next train that arrived a couple of minutes later and took a seat. She had travelled the route the day before to work out timings. There were thirteen stops between here and where she needed to get off which would take her thirty one minutes. So all she had to do was sit there.

Rey looked at the people around her. Coruscant was a lot more of a diverse place than where she came from. People from all over the world came to Coruscant for the opportunities on offer. No one ever came to Jakku, why would they? Those that were born there had to fight their way out.

Rey was proud of her achievements, if not a bit daunted. She was doing this all off her own back with no safety net. If she didn’t succeed here, she didn’t know what she was going to do, but no way was she going back to Jakku.

More people got on at each stop, soon filling up the carriage. Rey watched them. Nearly everyone was either reading something on their phone or a book or the free newspaper that was available at each station or had their headphones in. Rey wished she had brought something to do now. There was nothing particularly interesting on her phone to keep her occupied and she didn’t have any headphones or a book. So she was just left to people watch.

There were so many different people. There were people with brightly coloured hair and piercings who got off where she knew a trendy market was. There were a few kids in uniform who either had a long journey to school or wanted to arrive early. A couple of people with large suitcases got off at a stop where they could get national rail services.

There were women who were obviously going to work, she could see by their ID badges. Rey casually compared what they were wearing to what she was wearing and what she had in her wardrobe. She didn’t see too many differences apart from they were mostly in trainers or flats, and wondered if she was missing a trick there.

Rey hadn’t really thought about it before but there was something about a man in a suit, especially a well cut suit. Quite a few men were wearing suits, most looked alright, a couple didn’t but one man who got on four stops after her who really caught her attention.

He was very tall, his head almost touched the roof of the carriage as he stood, easily holding onto the high railings, exposing his designer watch. His black hair was in silky waves almost to his shoulders and he was wearing a beautifully fitted black suit over a white shirt and black tie.

She felt her cheeks heat up and she didn’t know whether is was because of the stuffy train or something else.

Just then he glanced up from his phone right at her. Rey looked away quickly, she knew her face was bright red. She didn’t mean to stare, and he’d caught her.

Needing a distraction, she took a drink from the water bottle she’d packed in her bag because there were posters all over the tube stations with cartoon characters telling you to always carry a drink in hot weather.

The journey dragged. Rey could feel every one of those thirty one minutes having nothing else to occupy her time. She would definitely bring a book tomorrow.

A large number of people got off at her stop, given that it was in the central business district that wasn’t surprising, including the very tall man. She could still see his head above everyone else’s as she moved with the flow of people. Some were rushing past with their coffee and breakfast on the go, others were straight on their phones making calls as soon as they got signal, while others had their headphones in and heads down, ploughing forward.

Rey took a deep breath, trying not to choke on the fumes from the nearby taxi bank, took a tight hold on her bag and set off. This was her world now, she had to look like she belonged there.

She had already planned out her route to the offices of Resistance Business Solutions the day before, so arrived there without incident.

“How can I help you?” the young woman on reception asked as Rey approached the front desk.

“Yes. My name is Rachel Bennet and I’m supposed to be starting work here today." Rey tried her best not to stumble over her words or make it sound like she was unsure.

“Yes. Good Morning Miss Bennet," the receptionist's eyes lite up with a more genuine smile. “If you go take a seat with that young man over there, I’ll let Mr Damaron know that you’re here.”

“Thank you,” Rey said and went to sit down where she was indicated.

“Hi,” she said brightly and the young man dropped his blue tie that he had been nervously fiddling with.

“Hey,” he gave her an uncertain smile.

“I’m Rey,” she offered him her hand.

“Finn,” he took it and shook it. Rey took one of the seats next to him and they started having the generic getting to know you conversation. Finn seemed nice and they both agreed that they were glad to be starting with someone else.

“There are my two graduate data analysts.” They looked over the see a confident looking man coming towards them with open arms.

“Hello Finn, Rey. See I remembered from your interview.” Rey was glad, she hated being called Rachel. “Welcome to Resistance. Now that you’re part of the family you can call me Poe, we like to keep things informal and relaxed here. You guys ready for your first day?”

They both nodded and Rey couldn’t help but smile. She liked Poe’s attitude, had done at the interview, that’s part of the reason why she wanted to work at Resistance.

“Alright. So today you’ll mainly be spending time with Rose from HR; signing forms, touring the building, getting your ID badges, getting set up on the computer system, that sort of thing. Then tomorrow we’ll start training you. Sound good? Good. Let’s go.”

***

Rey walked back to the tube station with Finn when they left work. He would be getting on a different tube line but it was nice to have someone to walk with.

It had been a pretty good day. They had signed off on their contracts, agreed to the data protection guidelines and got registered with payroll. Rose from HR gave them a tour and introduced them to the people they would be working with. She was sweet and had invited them out for drinks to celebrate the end of their first day, but they politely declined. Rey was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the newness of everything and a bit lightheaded as the only thing she had to eat was some fruit and a savoury muffin left in the break room to promote staff well-being.

But by far the best thing about the day was getting a company laptop. Rey had been without one for a couple of months and was glad she didn’t have to wait and go through the hassle of buying a new one herself.

She waved goodbye to Finn once they got through the ticket barrier and he went one way she went the other.

It was peak rush hour and therefore very crowded, much more than it was in the morning, making it difficult for her to reach the end of the platform where the carriage would hopefully be less crowded.

Luckily the first train to arrive was the correct train for where she needed to go, as once again the tube line branched off. Unfortunately it was standing room only.

Rey shuffled into a space where she could easily grab hold of a pole so that she wouldn’t fall over, as the driver told everyone to move right down inside the carriage and to mind the closing doors over the loudspeaker.

Once again Rey had nothing to do but people watch. There were pretty much the same kind of people as there were that morning but they looked hot, less put together and tired in a different sort of way.

She wondered if any of these people were on the same train as her that morning, then she recognised someone who definitely was.

The very tall man in black was leaning up next to the doors. Rey was trying to work out how his hair and suit had stayed so perfect looking when no one else's did, when he looked up and caught her staring again.

She cursed herself and quickly looked away, pretending to be interested in the advert that was next to his head, hoping he wouldn’t recognise her.

By the time she got off the tube, her feet were screaming at her. She wasn’t used to wearing any type of heel, let alone having to stand up the entire ride home. Rey now understood why the women that morning were wearing trainers. She was definitely going to do that from now on.

The whole walk home, Rey tried to walk normally and not waddle. With each step she muttered ouch under her breath.

When she got back to her house, she practically crawled up the stairs to her room. Luckily there didn’t seem to be anyone around to see her.

Her room was incredible stuffy when she finally let herself in. She would sort that out in a minute but first she had to peel the shoes off her feet and enjoy the weightless feeling she got when she lay down on her bed.

“Well Porgi, I did it. I’m a working woman now,” she rolled over and bopped her old cuddly toy on its beak. Porgi, the imaginatively named porg, was as old as Rey was and had stayed with her through everything, and he didn’t look too bad for it, just a few scratches on his hard plastic eyes, his once white belly was grey and he had got some pen marks on him at some point.

After opening the window and disabling the safety catch to let in more air and soaking her feet in the shower for a bit, Rey cooked herself some instant noodles for tea and spent the rest of the evening playing with her new laptop.

Even though it was a company laptop, they were allowed to use it for personal use, like social media and internet shopping, as long as it wasn’t elicit, outside of office hours.

Before she went to bed, Rey packed her bag so that everything was inside the laptop bag, except her shoes, they were in their own bag. She even remembered a book.

Texas Jack and the Treasure of Sapphire Falls was a sequel novel to her second favourite film series starring her favourite actor Han Solo. It also happened to be the only book she owned and she’d read it so many times that she could practically recite it off by heart. She wondered what she would read when she inevitably finished it in three days time.

But that was future Rey’s problem. Present Rey needed to go to bed. Plugging in her phone and turning off the light, she put on her eye mask and snuggled down with Porgi before she did it all again in the morning.

***

The rest of the week progressed just the same. She always managed to get a seat in the morning, but had to stand in the evening. It wasn’t as bad as she was led to believe and this was going to be her norm now, so she may as well just get used to it.

Wearing trainers on her commute was so much easier. They allowed her to move quicker, there was no danger of them falling off her feet and at work, she’d been informed, that there was an unwritten rule that they could keep their trainers on as long as they weren’t meeting a client. Rey and Finn wouldn’t be meeting and presenting to clients for a while, they would be focusing on learning the computer code and interpreting data.

On their second day they met Amilyn Holdo, the CEO of Resistance Business Solutions, and she took them out to lunch using the company credit card. Rey didn’t know how to feel about that, but she wasn’t going to turn down free food even if she spent the whole meal feeling self conscious about her table manners.

Apart from that outing, Rey stayed in the office at lunchtime and would help herself to the complimentary fruit and muffins from the break room. She tried not to feel bad or guilty or ashamed of doing that as it was there to be eaten and if it wasn’t it would just be thrown away.

Then on Friday, Rose asked them out to their usual Friday after work drinks. Finn went with them but Rey brushed her off again, saying that she needed to get home. She knew she only had herself to blame as she found herself squished into a stuffy train carriage instead of making friends but it still hurt to think they were having fun and all she was doing was going home to a packet of instant noodles and a toy porg.

***

It took her all the way until Friday to finish her book. It had taken longer than expected because she found it very difficult to stand up, turn the pages, shuffle out of people’s way and hold on all at the same time, so had only been reading it in the morning. It had been a really good distraction and made her journey feel much quicker, Rey just wondered what she could do now.

The first Saturday after she started work was a strange one. She had never really had the weekend to herself before, she had either been studying or working a part time job, now she had all this free time and she didn’t know what to do with it.

Having woken up early every other day of the week, Rey was conditioned to do the same on Saturday. To make the most of it, she made her way to the local supermarket while most people were enjoying their Saturday morning lie in. She bought the own brand washing capsules, bleach, bathroom cleaner and several different flavours of instant noodles. The racks of freshly made cookies were tempting, but they weren’t on the list so Rey left them behind.

When she got home, she put all her washing in the communal washing machine at her house and while that was on, cleaned her bathroom. She was quite surprised just how messy it got in just one week.

With the washing done and bathroom clean, Rey just lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t even noon.

It was a nice day, she could go for a walk, explore her local area, go see the sights of Coruscant, but she really couldn’t be bothered and she didn't want to put anymore money on her travel card than was absolutely necessary at the moment.

Rey had never had the time or resources to explore films the way she wanted to. As a child she saw very few films all the way through as someone else always took the TV controller away from her and changed the channel. The first film she remembered being able to watch uninterrupted was the original Texas Jack film. Sure she may have been a bit young as some of the scenes gave her nightmares, but she loved the action and adventure, and for a girl who had nothing it was the best movie in the world.

That is until she went to a social event at university where they watched the entire original Space Wars Trilogy in preparation for the long awaited new instalment.

Rey immediately loved it. It had all the action and adventure, and Han Solo, that Texas Jack had but in space and it actually had female characters with some agency. General Emilia was Rey’s favourite character but she had to scoff at the guy’s around her when they started cheering as her outfits became more and more revealing.

Upon seeing the new film, Rey was initially upset that the General had been killed off at some point between the two films and that Han Solo’s character, Franz ‘Lone Star’ Sloane, was a shadow of his former self and got killed off by the new antagonist, Lady Kira.

But she realised they had to die from a storytelling perspective. Plus the fact she had fallen in love with the new characters, especially the dynamic between Lady Kira and Wren, Franz and Emilia’s son.

The film ended in an epic lightsaber fight between the two of them culminating in Kira being defeated and Wren bridle carrying her unconscious body into his waiting ship while the battlefield burned around them. So naturally there was a lot of speculation as to how their relationship was going to unfold.

There were so many video essays for Rey to make her way through that by the time she went to bed on Saturday night, she was a KiRen shipper.

On Sunday she found a fan fiction website and got stuck in. There was so much for her to catch up on. Rey spent the day sifting through the different genres and theories to see which ones she enjoyed the most. She found herself drawn to modern AUs but enjoyed different authors’ visions as to how the next film would play out and what had happened in the missing twenty five year period.

There were plenty of people who envisioned Wren and Kira as lovers, and Rey could get behind this if it was loving and consensual, but there were also those who theorised they were brother and sister. Rey could also get behind these stories but she didn’t know how she felt about the incest.

So for the next week her reading consisted of fan fiction that she had downloaded onto her phone.

Rey wasn’t totally innocent, just inexperienced when it came to sexual relationships, so found herself deeply affected by those scenes, squeezing her thighs together to relieve some of the pressure. She tried to be subtle about it on the tube, but she could feel her cheeks turning red.

Rey figured it didn’t matter too much. No one was paying any attention to her, and who knew what they were looking at on their phones, it could be worse than smutty fan fiction.

That was until she looked up from reading a particularly saucy passage where Kira was running her fingers through Wren’s thick brown hair while he ate her out until she fell apart, only to meet the eyes of the very tall man dressed in black.

Rey gasped as she looked away in horror, staring intently at an advert for vitamins. That was embarrassing even though he had no idea why it would be.

There had been a few journeys where she hadn’t seen the very tall man dressed in black, but his was the face she recognised the most on her journeys to and from work. She didn’t know why he stood out to her or how they ended up on the same train most of the time, but that was how it was.

But from now on Rey decided that it was probably best to read more fluffy pieces on her commute.

***

Work was going well. Rey thought she was getting the hang of the computer programme and she was getting to know the other people who worked on the data analyst team. Snap and Jess had been in her and Finn’s positions last year and it turned out that Jess went to the same university as Rey, just a year ahead. They had bonded over that, even though their paths had never crossed before now.

Pretty much everyone at Resistance had their own mug in the break room, and if you didn’t there was always the plain ones with the company logo on. Rey was stuck having her morning coffee out of one of these, but longed for her own so she could express her personality more.

She also wanted to decorate her desk, really wanted to transform it into her own space.

Finn’s mum had got him a framed photo of all his family. All his brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins, aunts and uncles. The Troopers were a big family but close. Finn had been the first member of the family to go to university and his mother was so proud and insisted on him wearing a suit and tie to work every day. He was living with his parents at the moment but he had admitted that he thought his mother didn’t want him to move out.

Rey smiled but kept quiet while he talked about his family. She was quite jealous that he got to grow up with so many people who loved and supported him. What she wouldn’t give to have someone who never wanted to let her go.

While at work, Rey would have a piece of fruit in the morning, a muffin at lunchtime and then another piece of fruit in the afternoon. She didn’t leave the office either, waving the others off when they went off to get their lunch. She didn’t fancy the walk if there was nothing for her at the end of it.

Nobody really batted an eyelid until Poe walked past her desk one lunchtime.

“Rey? What are you still doing in here?” he asked making her jump slightly as she had been trying to do the crossword out of the free newspaper she had started picking up. Technically it was lunchtime and she didn’t have to be working.

“Oh, I bought my own lunch and I’ve already eaten it.” Rey wondered if she sounded at all convincing.

“OK but why don’t you go stretch your legs? Go outside and do the crossword.” Poe asked.

“I have...allergies.” It was the only reason she could think of for not being outside on such a lovely day.

“Right. At least go for a walk around the building. OK?” Rey nodded and hoped he would just go away then. He did but not without looking at her suspiciously.

***

Rey once again went straight home on Friday evening. The others were kind enough not to question her or make her feel more guilty than she already did.

Her weekend was pretty much the same as the previous week. She went shopping, did the washing, a bit of cleaning, then spent the rest of her time reading.

When she went to the supermarket, Rey headed straight for the instant noodles, then realised that she didn’t need anything else. She had plenty of toothpaste and toilet roll and cleaning stuff, so she had a bit of extra money to spare. Rey decided to treat herself to a packet of cookies that had been calling her name last week, and a meal deal consisting of a sandwich, packet of crisps and a soft drink. She was looking forward to drinking something other than water or the coffee from work.

The cookies were so good, the right amount of softness and crunch. Rey had to stop herself from eating all four at the same time.

She also spent some time browsing the internet compiling a wish list. It mainly contained different tie in novels to the Space Wars Universe which she had gathered contained clues to which way the series was going. She looked forward to reading them.

She also looked at mugs and was torn between one that was covered in cute little porgs or a really cool one that featured Lady Kira and revealed her lightsaber when hot water was added.

Rey also looked at more practical things like a little bookshelf and a new bed. The one she was sleeping on had some missing slats meaning that she sometimes found herself waking up in a divot.

***

Rey knocked on Poe’s office door trying not to feel like a naughty schoolgirl being sent to the head teacher’s office. She hadn’t done anything wrong, at least she thought she hadn’t. She was getting all her work done, asking for help when she needed it and she hadn’t been late. So the reason why Poe had called her into his office escaped her.

“Come in.” he called and she entered.

“Ah Rey. Thank you for coming. I’m just going to finish up this email then I’ll be right with you.”

Rey took a seat and wondered what she was supposed to do while she waited. She felt fidgety but thought that would be too distracting for Poe, so she had to use all her self control to keep still.

Instead she scanned the wall that was covered in framed accolades and photos.

“You’ve met Princess Leia!” Rey exclaimed. All notion of not disturbing Poe disappeared as soon as she laid eyes on the photo of the two of them at some kind of formal event. Poe was shaking her hand and pulling a goofy expression into the camera while the Princess looked regal even though she was clearly amused.

Rey was a big fan of her in her own right. She was the only survivor of a bloody and unpopular coup that had seen the rest of the royal family of Alderaan killed, and even though the people of Alderaan had never reinstated the monarchy, she was popular among the people and served as ambassador to the small country.

She also just so happened to be Han Solo’s wife and reportedly the inspiration for General Emilia.

“Yes. She’s one of the original shareholders of the company. Her and Amilyn go way back. She holds a charity ball every July at the Alderaanian Embassy and we get discounted tickets.”

Rey smiled. It sounded amazing. She had never been to anything so formal before. That was definitely something to look forward to.

“Anyway, I asked you in here so we could have a little chat.” he smiled but it wasn’t a reassuring one. “Tell me Rey, how are you finding working at Resistance?”

“Good, yeah. It’s great.” Rey knew she didn’t sound that convincing. She never did when she was nervous or on the spot.

“And do you like the people you work with?”

“Yeah they’re great. It’s only been a couple of weeks but I think we make a good team.” she made herself cringe with how fake she sounded.

“It’s just you haven’t joined us for after work drinks.”

“I don’t like to stay out late. Much prefer to be at home.” she faked a smile.

“But you haven’t been out for lunch either. I know Rose has asked you.”

Rey pursed her lips together. She had a feeling about where this was going.

“You rarely leave your desk at lunchtime and the only thing I’ve seen you eat is the muffins and fruit the company provides. I’m just a little concerned Rey.”

Rey looked away biting her lip and focused her attention on the corner of Poe’s desk. She had had this conversation many times before and nothing had ever come of it, why should now be any different?

“I’m fine. I just need to get to pay day then I’ll be fine, everything will be fine.”

“Oh Rey. If you were struggling why didn’t you let someone know?”

“What good would that do?” she immediately regretted how harsh she sounded. “Besides, I’ve survived worse.”

Poe looked shocked. Very few people knew about her childhood, she kept it hidden. There was a reason why the social services in Jakku were in special measures.

“Just one more week then I’ll come out for a drink, I’ll buy lunch, I’ll have something other than instant noodles for tea. I promise.” Rey was rather uncomfortable and wanted to get away as soon as possible. “Can I go now?”

“I know you probably think you have to do this by yourself Rey but you don’t have to. We like to think of ourselves as family here at Resistance, let us help you.”

As much as Rey wanted to accept his help, she had been let down so many times in the past. The only reliable person she knew was herself.

“Thanks for your concern Poe, but I’m fine and I’m going back to work now.”

He sighed and let her go.

The next day, there was a full platter of sandwiches in the break room, with a note saying that the senior management meeting had been over catered and that they were free to take as many sandwiches as they wanted.

Rey couldn’t help feeling angry even as she gratefully devoured all the egg salad sandwich from the platter.

***

Rey woke up on Saturday with the familiar ache deep down in her hips and cursed what would be starting in the next couple of days.

That day she added whatever tampons and chocolate was on offer at the local supermarket to her basket. It was the only time she would allow herself such ‘luxuries’.

It was at this time of the month that Rey felt at her most lonely and vulnerable. She had been pretty much left alone to figure out how her body functioned and it was this that made her wish she had a mother the most. She was lucky nothing had gone terribly wrong.

Her feelings of loneliness and isolation were so much worse that weekend. She had more than proved she was independent, having got herself through university and moving to Coruscant, but Rey wanted to have friends and be loved.

True she was getting along with the people at work but she didn’t feel that she could talk to them outside of work at least not for a long while yet, and finding a boyfriend would be even more of a challenge.

Before she realised it, she was curled up and crying holding Porgi tight.

“You’re my only friend Porgi. Don’t ever leave me.” she said aloud. Porgi absorbed it all, just as he always had.

***

At work that week, Rey tried not to let herself get to irate at the things that didn’t quite go her way; the computer not loading fast enough, someone using the last of the water in the kettle, people walking too slow, someone standing too close to her on the tube. She was actually quite impressed as to how calm she was and the fact that she had only shouted at the photocopier and no one else.

She was less pleased however when her hormones made her burst into tears on the train. She had found a fan fiction about Wren and Kira told from the perspective of their dog. It was incredibly sweet right up until the end when the dog was coming to terms with the fact that he was dying and then eventually passed away.

There was no way Rey could stop the tears at that point. She did her best to keep quiet and rummaged through her bag for a tissue. Rey was glad she had left her hair down today as it fell across her face partially hiding her face.

She dabbed her eyes with the tissue. Luckily she was able to recover quickly from crying and would look normal in a minute or two.

Looking up she saw him again, the very tall man dressed in black. He was the one looking at this time. Rey held his gaze and the noise and the other passengers seemed to disappear.

He looked concerned and like he wanted to say something, but then the train came to a particularly jerky stop and the moment was lost.

More people shuffled on to the already full carriage making Rey notice how far apart they really were and left her wondering what had just happened.

***

Rey pretty much skipped into work on the morning of payday. She had already checked that the money went in to her bank account and she was so excited to see her first grown up pay cheque in there. Sure half of it would be going straight out again in a couple days when her rent was due, but still there was some money to spend.

Finn gave her a high five as soon as he saw her, he was excited by his pay cheque too. Everyone else looked at them like they were being so adorable and started reminiscing about their first pay cheques.

“Are you going to do anything special?” Rey asked Finn.

“I was thinking of taking my mum out for dinner. Take her some place nice.”

“Aww that’s so sweet.”

“What about you?” Finn asked to get over his blush.

“There’s some books I want, maybe get some new clothes. Just general shopping really.” Rey said with a shrug. What she really wanted to say, no shout, was food!

That day she ventured outside for the first time at lunchtime, along with everyone else it seemed. The lines were long but the staff were used to it so got people through the queue fairly quickly.

Rey settled for a salad that had several ingredients that she had never heard of. It wasn’t the best and she probably wouldn’t get it again, but she was happy enough she had got it herself.

It seemed like payday was just one of the other excuses people used to go out for a drink after work and if Rey wasn’t so excited about going straight to the supermarket when she got home, she probably would have joined them for the first time.

As she was leaving she shared a look with Poe. He knew and understood her reasoning behind bailing on them this week. His look seemed to convey that he wasn’t worried about her anymore.

Her mood obviously wasn’t felt by anyone else on the tube as everyone looked just as miserable and tired as they always did, plugged into their phones and pretending that the people around them didn’t exist.

Rey thought it was a shame, and in her good mood decided to break the golden rule of travelling on the Coruscant Underground, don’t talk to anyone.

She couldn’t help but smile when she saw who she was standing next to, almost pushed up against. It was the very tall man dressed in black.

She had never been so close to him before. He was very tall, she barely reached his shoulder and up this close she could see that his pale skin was peppered with beauty marks. As if sensing her eyes on him, he looked across at her with his dark brown eyes, like he had a few times on the journeys they’d taken together, but this time Rey wasn’t going to look away.

“Hi. I’m Rey.” she said hoping he could hear her over the screeching of the tracks.

The very tall man dressed in black furrowed his brow as if silently saying, ‘how dare she break the golden rule.’


	2. October

“Hi I’m Rey,” she said. The very tall man dressed in black just stared at her first with wide eyes. Then he narrowed them and furrowed his brow. He looked around the carriage at the other commuters, as if he would be judged for responding to her. He needn't worry. Everyone else was in their own little world either listening to music, finishing off some work on their laptop or simply just asleep.

“Why are you talking to me?” he said at last.

“Well I’m in a good mood and I’m fed up of being surrounded by strangers and wanted to make a friend.” she kept her tone friendly to combat his almost harsh tone.

“And you chose me because?”

“I see you quite a lot and what’s the point of making a friend you never see?” He looked at her sceptically and backed away as much as he was able to.

“I’m not a stalker,” she said but realised he was only moving to let people on and off. “I just know that you work somewhere near where I do and have the same hours as me.”

“Don’t you feel lonely even though you’re surrounded by people?” she added.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment then dropped his head and sighed, his shiny black hair falling forward. “Fine. If you’re that desperate to make a friend that you chose me, I’ll allow you to ask me one question a day. You’ll soon get bored.”

Rey narrowed her eyes at him. She had long decided that she would never comply with other people’s expectations of her. She wouldn’t let this man, whoever he was, win. He would be her friend eventually.

“Fine. What’s your name?”

“Ben.” he replied. It was such a simple name.

“So Ben, where do you…?”

“Ah, ah, ah. One question Rey.” he said with the slightest hint of a smug smile, as the train came to a stop at his station and he got off without a second glance.

***

Rey soon got off the train and went straight to the supermarket and tried to put Ben whatshisname out of her mind for now. Now was the time she had been looking forward to for a whole month, food.

She was looking forward to having full cupboards, fridge and freezer, not that it would take much to fill that as it was just a small ice box in the top of her fridge.

As much as she was looking forward to it, Rey knew that she couldn’t go too mad, although her upbringing and frugal nature wouldn’t let her.

Not one for cooking there was no point in her buying lots of ingredients, so Rey came away with ready meals that were on three-for-two, pasta and sauce, frozen chips, vegetables, a bag of chicken nuggets, rice, rolls and fillings for lunch, a multi bag of crisps and a couple of packets of breakfast bars. There were no instant noodles in sight.

Rey was so happy with her first proper big shop that she had forgotten that she needed to carry two big heavy bags of shopping, her work bag and the bag with her shoes in. She had to do a bit of juggling and dodging, there were a lot more people around now than there were on Saturday mornings, but she eventually got back to her house and managed to unlock the doors without her shopping spilling everywhere.

That night her microwave lasagne may have been simple, but it was the best thing she had eaten in a long time.

Before she went to bed Rey made a sandwich ready for lunch the next day. It saved her doing it in the morning, she just hoped it wouldn’t go too soggy.

***

The next day Rey ate one of the breakfast bars on the platform as she waited for the correct train. It would be so nice to start the working day having already eaten something instead of her usual internal debate as to what time was best to start taking snacks from the break room.

Rey decided she would continue to eat the fruit from the break room. After all the company was providing it and what would happen if she didn’t keep eating it?

At lunchtime, Poe Dameron gave her a thumbs up across the office when he saw that she had bought her own sandwich. She felt oddly proud of this. But at the same time lonely as she was still on her own in an empty office while everyone else went out and got their lunch.

To distract herself she would usually try and do the crossword to help expand her vocabulary. She had a logical, mathematical mind, it didn’t come easy to her. But today she thought of what questions she could ask Ben.

***

As Rey went underground that evening she could make Ben out in the crowd just ahead of her. He was easy to spot, his silky black hair towered above everyone else.

She really wanted to run and catch up with him to make sure that they were on the same train, but she knew better than that. Everyone on the crowded platform had somewhere to be and they would all get there eventually. Pushing your way through a crowd on the underground was just as big an unwritten rule as talking to someone, which Rey decided not to break. Talking to someone could get you friends, pushing in front of them, definitely not.

By some miracle, they did end up in the same carriage, albeit at different ends. Rey spent most of her journey shuffling down the carriage, subtly trading places with people until they were close enough to talk.

As he saw her approach she could see that Ben was trying his hardest not to roll his eyes. In retaliation she just plastered on a fake smile and carried on her planned course of action.

“So Ben, where do you work?” she had thought that was too personal but she also thought it didn’t really matter.

“First Order Financial,” he said and it was evident that was all he was going to say.

“OK,” Rey couldn’t really say she was disappointed, she didn’t really expect him to say much more. “I work at Resistance Business Solutions, see.”

She showed him her bright orange lanyard. She also didn’t know why she did that, she looked awful in her ID photo.

Ben nodded showing no expression, then it seemed to Rey that he couldn’t get off the train fast enough.

***

“What do you do at First Order Financial?” Rey asked the next day. It was a logical follow up question to what she asked the day before, she just had to wait twenty four hours to ask it.

“Accounts,” was Ben’s response.

“I’m a data analyst, at least I’m training to be. How long have you…?”

He cut her off by raising his index finger at her signifying her one question limit. At least it was his index finger.

***

“As I was saying yesterday, how long have you been working there?” For the fourth day in a row she had ended up standing next to Ben. he didn’t seem thrilled by it but there were plenty of things he could do if he really wanted to avoid her.

“Six years,” he said in his usual bored tone.

“I’ve just been there a month. Do you like your job?” He slowly turned to face her.

“I know, I know one question,” she sighed. It was going to take a while to wear him down.

***

Then it was Friday and for the first time Rey joined the others for their after work drinks.

They always went to the same place, a pub just around the corner from their offices. It was a quaint little place with mismatched wooden benches, tables and stools and old pictures of what this part of Coruscant looked like before the old warehouses got replaced by skyscrapers on the walls.

It was also busy which wasn't surprising given that it was Friday and the workers of Coruscant were known to start the weekend off as soon as work finished and then stumble onto whatever public transport would take them home.

Rey wasn’t a big fan of drinking and on the odd occasion at university when she found herself at a party or out in town, she never let herself get drunk. So when their group finally got up to the bar, she ordered a diet soda.

“Oh come on Rey. It’s Friday, live a little.” Finn said as he draped an arm over her shoulders. He was already giddy having downed something she didn’t catch the name of.

“I’m good thanks,” Rey said freeing herself from his grasp and went to find somewhere to perch. The place was so busy that she just ended up leaning against the wall out of the way.

She was about half way through her drink when Rose found her.

“There you are,” she said as she drew Rey into a hug.

“Yes, here I am,” Rey said as she gently extracted herself from Rose’s embrace. Why did everyone want to hug her all of a sudden?

“So, are you staying out long?” Rose asked not really noticing her form of attention had been rejected.

“No I was just going to finish this then head off,”

“OK thanks for coming out this week. You doing anything this weekend?”

“I was thinking of just going shopping. Maybe get some new clothes,” she looked down at the top she was wearing. “I mean I’ve worn this top about five times since I started working here, you’re probably sick of seeing it.”

“Ah that doesn’t really matter. As long as you look clean and don’t smell terrible no one really cares.”

Rey smiled sadly. How was it that something that mattered so much in her teenage years meant nothing now? She could still hear the kids at school bullying her because she had to wear the same three outfits week after week.

“You going on your own?” Rose’s question broke her out of her bad memories. Rey nodded. “I’m going to see my sister this weekend but if you ever want someone to go with, just let me know and we can meet up.”

“I’d like that.” she said beaming. She had never had anyone to go shopping with before, well she’d never been one for shopping. It just reminded her of all the things she couldn’t afford.

But now she had some money of her own and she was free to spend it how she liked, and she had someone who wanted to be her friend. Someone she saw everyday and would actually have a conversation with her. Rey wondered if she should keep trying with Ben, but then she decided that people need more than one friend, and she was patient enough to wait for Ben to warm up to her.

***

On Saturday morning Rey ventured out into Coruscant to do some shopping. She wasn’t too sure about where to go, being new to the city. Back in Jakku she knew all of the best charity shops. So she just decided to go to the popular fast fashion store in the main shopping district.

Half an hour later Rey emerged with a large brown paper bag full of seven new shirts, grey trousers, pyjamas, socks, hair bands and a new duvet cover. She may not have gone in for some of those items but she managed to talk herself into buying them for once. She just had to remember that it was alright to buy new things just so long as she didn’t go too crazy.

With her shopping done, Rey stood outside the store, off to the side so she wasn’t in the way, and wondered what to do next.

She didn’t particularly know what other shops to look at and it was still too early for lunch and she didn’t want to go home just yet. So she decided to go for a walk. It wasn’t like she could get that lost, not with maps on her phone.

Rey chose a direction at random and started walking. She walked through a crowd of people going in and coming out of the underground station and down a path that had been narrowed because of building works.

Rey went with the flow of people, a mixture of locals who knew exactly where they needed to be and tourists who were trying to figure out how to get to the next landmark.

Rey wondered which category she fitted into. She lived here now but she had also only lived in Coruscant a month and she lived way out in the fringes of the metropolitan area and she pretty much only knew how to get to and from work.

Occasionally crossing the road to get out of the worst of the crowd, Rey found herself down a quiet street. Quiet for pedestrians not for cars. They were all backed up at a set of traffic lights, honking their horns in frustration that they weren’t moving or another car was trying to force its way out of a side street into the main flow of traffic.

There were so few pedestrians and the shops she passed looked closed that Rey thought she should turn back, but then something caught her eye.

The shop had a window display of all sorts of superhero memorabilia; movie props, comics, statues, books. It looked amazing. Rey even saw stuff relating to Space Wars and knew she just had to go in.

It was even better inside. One wall was a floor to ceiling glass display case containing statues of different characters. Rey didn’t know who half of them were, but they looked cool. What caught her eye though was the two foot tall statue of Lady Kira, mask on, black cape flowing, lightsaber out and ready to attack. It looked so amazing and also had an amazing price tag that made Rey bulk.

She spent ages looking at all the displays, the colourful animated shows, the gritty videos games, the classic superheroes and of course Space Wars.

It was mainly toys and big headed plastic collectables which she didn’t quite understand but she knew that someone would love them.

She did decide to buy herself the mug she had been needing at work. It wasn’t a colour changing one, but it did have Kira on one side and Wren on the other and it had been reduced so that was a bonus.

There was a second floor to the shop, down in the basement, where all of the books and comics were. Rey was positively giddy when she found the Space Wars section and all of the books on offer, some of which were on her wish list and others that would now be going on it.

She had seen the books cheaper online, but if she ordered them she would have to wait for them to be delivered before she could start reading them. Rey decided to buy one book to keep costs down. At least she knew where this shop was now, she could easily come back and get more.

***

On Monday morning Rey headed to work in her new grey trousers paired with a lightweight long sleeved pale green shirt with flowers on it. She went out without a jacket, despite it being October, it would soon warm up during the day.

Rey spent her journey to work reading her new book. It was a continuation of the last film in the original trilogy, about what the characters did in the aftermath of the war, and she had nearly finished it having nothing else to do all weekend.

What she had been hoping for was any mention of baby Wren. Not much was known about him as a child. The only bit of information that was known was a flashback scene from the last film of a screaming baby in an escape pod flying away from an exploding ship. Nothing before and nothing after and it was driving the fandom crazy with theories and speculation.

But this book wasn’t hiding any answers, Lone Star and General Emilia hadn’t even gotten married yet, not that they needed to do that to have a baby.

Rey pretty much bumped into Rose as she entered that office block.

“Morning Rey,” she said way too cheerfully for a Monday morning.

“Morning,” she said in response, trying not to yawn.

“New top?”

Rey nodded. “New trousers too.”

“Looking good. Green really suits you.” Rey blushed a little, she wasn’t used to compliments of any kind.

When Rey got to the break room, she rinsed out her new mug and made herself a cup of coffee.

Sitting down at her desk, she breathed in the scent of the coffee and sighed. Her life was starting to turn around. She had a job, she had her independence, she was starting to make friends.

Speaking of which, she thought to herself. What should I ask Ben this week?

***

“What’s your favourite colour?” Rey asked that evening when she’d found her spot next to him. She had decided on the question because it wasn’t too personal and it wasn’t about work. Who really wanted to talk about work anyway? She just hoped Ben would open up more.

“Red,” he said.

“Red?” she repeated. It wasn’t what she was expecting. He was stood beside her in a black suit and tie, black shoes and bag and his socks were probably black too. The only bit of colour he was wearing was his white shirt and that didn’t really count.

“Yes, red.”

***

“What’s your favourite food?” Rey asked the next day.

“Cereal,”

“Oh come on that is such a broad statement.” Ben just looked at her with a blank expression, but he didn’t look angry so she just carried on.

“I mean do you like the boring multigrain cereal or the brightly coloured, covered in sugar stuff that children have? Do you have milk, no milk, what type of milk? Do you put fruit on it or a boat load of sugar? You’ve got to give me something.”

She was out of breath by the time she’d finished and she must have gotten a little loud as people had turned to look at her, the crazy woman ranting about cereal.

Ben was smirking as he got off the train, leaving her there, wanting the floor to swallow her up.

***

“So I’m going to ask you this and your answer will really help me out this weekend.” Ben looked at her like he didn’t know whether to humour her or bolt at the next station. “It’s not like that. Stop making it weird.”

“Too late for that.” Ben muttered under his breath. Rey chose to ignore him.

“What’s your favourite place in Coruscant? Where should I go at the weekend?”

“That’s two questions,” Ben pointed out.

“They’re the same question,” she argued back.

“No they’re not. My answer for one would not be an appropriate answer to the other.”

“Which would be what?” she asked. She didn’t particularly care what it was, she was just happy to get more than three words out of him.

Ben shrugged. He was obviously going to ignore that question. “Natural History Museum is pretty cool. They have dinosaurs.”

“See that wasn’t so difficult. We’ve almost had a conversation.”

“Don’t get used to it. I’ll be back to being a dick next time.” he said trying to hide his smile.

“Your words not mine.” muttered Rey.

***

That Friday, Rey was awoken before her alarm by the sound of rain beating against her window. It wasn’t the first time the noise had woken her up, but it was the first time that the rain hadn’t stopped by the time she had to leave for work.

Rey didn’t know what she was going to do. She didn’t have a coat or umbrella. Umbrellas, she thought, were just a waste of time as they took up too much space and would always turn inside out in the slightest breeze.

The only vaguely appropriate thing she had to wear was an old university hoodie she had bought in her first week to make it look like she belonged and had subsequently worn it practically everyday she was there, and now it was in a terrible state. But it would have to do.

She pulled the hoodie on, it had shrunk slightly over the course of its many washes, over her usual work clothes, put her laptop in a plastic bag as an extra layer of protection and headed for the tube station.

She was pretty soaked by the time she scanned her travel pass and went down the stairs to the platform. She would have felt self conscious if she didn’t know that everyone else was in the same position. The bad weather seemed to put everyone in a grouchy mood.

The next problem presented itself when Rey got down to the platform itself. It was only covered where the middle carriages would stop, she normally went all the way to the end where the front carriage stopped, but today she hovered at the edge of the covering wondering what she should do while the public announcer was simultaneously telling them to take care in inclement weather and to move down the full length of the platform.

A few people were braving it down in her usual spot, so Rey decided to wait until she saw her train approach the station to make a break for it.

Things were kind of worse when she got on the train. The wet bodies were making the already stuffy air incredibly humid.

Rey was damp and uncomfortable sat in her seat. She really wanted to take her hoodie off but it was tight and wouldn’t come off without her accidentally hitting someone. So there she sat trying to take her mind off her situation but never quite being able to for her whole journey to work.

When Rey got out of the underground at the other end, the rain seemed to have gotten heavier, but there was nothing she could do but grin and bear it.

By the time she got to the office block she was positively dripping. Her shoes squeaked on the tile floor and she was probably leaving a trail of water behind her.

“What happened to you?” Jess exclaimed as she stepped into their office, careful not to get to close to the computers or the walls.

“It’s raining and I don’t have a coat.” Rey said putting her stuff by her desk. She was dreading having to spend the day in wet clothes. “I’m going to stand under the hand dryer for a bit.”

“You can’t stay in those clothes all day. Here,” Jess handed Rey her gym bag. “You can wear my gym stuff. Don’t worry, it’s clean.”

“Thank you so much,” Rey said with a genuine smile.

“No problem. Hopefully it should clear up by the time we leave today.”

Rey left to get changed in the bathroom. It never failed to astound her how kind some people could be.

Now she just needed to figure out how to get out of this jumper.

***

Her mission for the weekend was to go buy a coat, she didn’t particularly want to spend her whole day at work hiding away in borrowed gym clothes again. Typically the forecast was for nice weather for the next week.

Rey decided to go and see what she could find after going to the Natural History Museum. She didn’t really know why she was taking Ben’s advice, but it was something to do and it was free so she wasn’t going to complain about that.

She was going to complain about the children there though. Everyone loved dinosaurs it seemed and there were so many small children there seemingly just allowed to run wild that it was spoiling her enjoyment.

Rey hadn’t really been around small children since she was one herself, so she wasn’t used to them, but man they were annoying; running around, getting in the way and making noise.

Ben didn’t seem like the type of person who would put up with children, so she wondered why he would suggest somewhere like that. She would ask him if she knew she would get more than a two word answer.

***

“So what did you do at the weekend?” Rey asked Ben when she saw him on Monday.

“Went to the zoo,” he replied.

“That’s it?” she said when it became apparent he wasn’t going to say anything else. “A five year old could give me a better answer.”

She turned around in a huff, but not before catching him smirking out of the corner of her eye.

***

“What’s your favourite sport?” It was the first question that popped into her head. It wasn’t like she was that interested in sport herself, but it wasn’t like there were going to be any follow up questions for her to worry about.

“Fencing,” he said. Rey was actually quite intrigued by this. It wasn’t the mainstream sport that she was expecting anyone to give as their answer.

“See that’s quite interesting, shame we can’t talk about it some more.” she thought she might as well try some reverse psychology.

“Yes, such a shame,” he said and went back to looking at his phone.

“Damn you,” she said and she could have sworn she heard him chuckle over the sound of the train.

***

“How can I get to know someone when they’ll only let me ask them one question a day?” Rey asked Finn and Rose as they sat eating their lunch. Rey had her sandwich, Rose had talked Finn into getting sushi with her, which he was having a hard time eating with chopsticks.

“Who made up that rule?” asked Rose who was having no problem eating her lunch.

“A guy on the tube.” Rey replied sheepishly, already anticipating their responses.

The piece of sushi Finn had finally managed to get hold of, span out of his grasp and splattered on the table, as they both stared at her.

“Rey you can’t just talk to someone on the tube. It’s pretty much against the law.” gasped Finn.

“It’s an invasion of their personal space,” added Rose.

“So is being pushed right up against someone at rush hour,” countered Rey. “Is talking to someone really worse than that?”

“Yes!” Finn and Rose both cried.

“Well too late. As long as he keeps getting on the same train as me, I’m going to keep trying to talk to him.” Rey said in a huff crossing her arms.

“Him?” asked Finn with a raised eyebrow and Rey realised her mistake.

“Oh honey. Do you have a bit of a train crush?” asked Rose trying not to giggle.

“No,” scoffed Rey. This wasn’t supposed to go this way. Just because he was a guy didn’t mean she had to have a crush on him, even if his suit did fit his broad shoulders perfectly.

“If I did would you really suggest that I just stare at him for afar rather than talk to him?”

“Yep,” “Pretty much,” “You don’t just talk to people on the tube.”

Rey knew she should just give up, they weren’t being much help. She started to pack up her half eaten sandwich, she would finish it somewhere else.

Rose caught her wrist as she was doing so. “Rey I’m sorry. Don’t leave. We’ll behave.” Rey sat back down hoping the conversation would change. She was wrong.

“So what do you know about him?”

“Well, his name is Ben, he works at First Order Financial…” she was about to say more but Finn interrupted.

“First Order Financial,” he shuddered. “I had an interview there before I got one here. The place was so oppressive. Everyone was in black and white, the whole building was in monochrome, and the people conducting the interview were downright scary. The pay was better there but I’m glad I got the job here.”

Rey and Rose just looked at Finn as he stared off into the middle distance like he was having a traumatic flashback.

“So anyway, he’s told you he’ll only answer one question a day?” Rey nodded. “How strange. What kind of things have you been asking him already?”

“I’ve tried not to get too personal, kept things light, but he just gives me one word answers and I can’t ask any follow up questions because of the one question rule.”

“Have you tried having the conversation without him? After he gives his answer, give yours in much better detail?”

“Yes but then I’m just stood there talking to myself getting really self conscious.”

“How about giving him multiple part questions? Like in exams. Question one has parts a, b and c.” offered Finn who had snapped out of his reverie and had given up on using his chopsticks properly and was just stabbing his sushi.

"That could work,” said Rey.

“You’d have to make it clear that that was what you were doing though.” said Rose. “What about giving his answers a score if we’re thinking about going back to school.”

“There would have to be some kind of reward if that is going to work.” Rey said, then she saw Finn and Rose both looking at the other and looking like they were dying to say some kind of barely appropriate comment.

“Stop it, both of you.” she snapped before they had a chance to.

“Here’s a thought,” said Rose when she’d calmed down. “Does he smirk or anything when he sees you’re not satisfied with his answer?”

Rey thought back over the past couple of weeks. “Yes he does. Why?”

“I think he’s teasing you.”

“Why would he be teasing me?”

Rose shrugged. “Guys are weird. Maybe he likes you too.”

“Rose!” Rey throw the plastic wrap of her sandwich at her but she managed to dodge it.

“Ok, ok. How about when he gives you his short answer you just accept it and go back to whatever you normally do on the tube?”

“Yeah I can do that.” Rey was glad she had someone to turn to for advice, even if they were really annoying. It was better than nothing.

***

“Cats or dogs?” Rey asked. She was going to try Rose’s idea.

“Dogs.” Ben said.

“Cool,” Rey said and she went back to reading fan fiction on her phone. She subtly moved away from him as more people got on and off to remove any temptation to say anything else.

***

The following weekend was sunny again but you could feel the beginnings of a chill in the air. Summer was coming to an end and winter would soon be there.

Rey headed out that weekend to one of Coruscant’s many parks, Celebration Park, in one of the jackets she had bought the weekend before. She had bought two, a waterproof one with a hood and a more fashionable one to keep the wind out. They were both on sale and she thought it was good to have a bit of variety.

The parks in Coruscant were a great escape from the busy city life going on all around them. They were quiet and relaxing, and always so clean and well maintained. Rey liked them because they were nothing like what she had grown up with in Jakku, where everything was either dry or dying.

Being October the leaves on the trees were turning brilliant shades of red and gold. With the sun shining on them and the contrast against the clear blue sky, it made Rey wish she was a decent photographer.

There were children and dogs running around trying to catch the leaves as they fell to the ground. Rey didn’t mind it so much here as this was where children should be running around. People riding through on bikes and the occasional group trying to make the most of the good weather by having a picnic on the grass.

Rey was content to just walk around all day, keeping herself to herself and finding something for lunch. Then she spotted him. She was sure it was him. Ben was in the park too.

His black hair was looser, less styled. He was wearing black jeans and boots with a red and black checked flannel shirt.

He looked happy, at least a lot happier than he did on the tube, but that was probably to be expected, no one was happy on the tube.

Rey found herself smiling but she couldn’t really say why, and wondered if she should go over and talk to him. This wasn’t the tube after all. There was no silent rule about talking to someone in the park.

Just then Rey noticed two young children running up to Ben and around his legs, a boy and a girl both with bright red hair. Rey couldn’t tell how old they were but the boy looked slightly older and couldn’t have been more than five years old.

They were very comfortable with Ben and he was very comfortable with them, easily lifting the little girl up ad sitting her on his shoulders. She obviously wasn’t scared of heights, Rey thought as she listened to the girl’s high pitched laughter.

Rey half hid herself behind a tree as the three of them walked over to a very tall woman, she was just as tall as Ben was, with short platinum blonde hair, pushing a pram with another ginger baby tucked up inside.

Rey couldn’t explain the tight feeling she felt in her chest as she watched the five of them interact. Was it jealousy over the fact that she had never had a family or was it that Ben had a family?

Then it hit her. Perhaps the reason he didn’t want to talk to her was because he was married and was so faithful that he didn’t even want to have a conversation with another woman.

Well if that was the case maybe she should just cut her loses and stop trying to talk to him. It wasn’t like she was getting anywhere anyway.

***

Rey wasn’t even trying and she still somehow ended up standing next to Ben on her way home from work on Monday. She had decided to just let him be and finish the fan fiction she was reading about Kira and Wren being rival rock stars.

“You’re being awfully quiet this evening,” she heard Ben say. She turned to face him slightly confused for two reasons. The first being that this was the first time that he had spoken to her without being prompted. The second being, why was this happening after she had resolved to leave him alone?

Rey realised that he needed an explanation. It wasn’t nice to be ghosted, but how was she going to explain it without sounding like a complete stalker?

“I saw you with your family in Celebration Park at the weekend.”

“My family?” Now it was Ben’s turn to look confused.

“Yes. I wasn’t following you or anything. It’s just you were there and I was there.” She didn’t know why she was feeling so nervous or having trouble looking at him. “I mean your kids looked cute and your wife looked nice and you looked really happy together.”

“Wife? I’m not married.” Rey instinctively looked at his left hand and saw no ring.

“Of course you don’t have to be married to have children. I know that.”

“And those weren’t my children.”

“Oh,” that surprised Rey. “Then whose are they?”

“Bertie, Alice and Alfie, who was in the pram, are my Godchildren. They’re my best friend Hux’s kids. He’s where they get their red hair from. That was their mother though, Gwen.”

“Oh,” Rey said again and she had to laugh at the ridiculous conclusions her mind had jumped to. “I don’t know why I jumped straight to them being your children. I mean, I wouldn’t have thought any child of yours would have such red hair.”

He quizzically raised an eyebrow at her.

“Not that I’ve thought about what your children would look like. I mean this is awkward, I’m awkward. Should we just go back to one word answers?”

“Definitely.”

***

“What’s your favourite film?” Rey asked the next time they saw each other.

“The.” Ben said with a barely concealed smile.

“‘The’? There’s no film called ‘The’.” she said. Then she saw him press his lips together as if to stop his laughter escaping. Then she remembered their last conversation. “You think you’re so funny don’t you?”

“A little bit yes.”

“Whatever. My favourite film series, because I can’t choose one, is Space Wars.” Ben rolled his eyes. “What was that for?”

“I’m going to need a lot more than one word to explain my feelings about Space Wars.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

The train pulled into Ben’s station. “Another time. Way, way, way down the road.”

Ben got off the train leaving Rey to wonder what he meant by that.


	3. November

“Hey, you like Space Wars don’t you Rey?” Finn asked as she got back into their shared office after making her morning coffee in the break room.

“Sure do,” she gestured to her Kira and Wren mug.

“Have you seen the trailer yet?”

“They’ve finally released it!?” she dived into her seat, grabbing her headphones and bringing up the video on her computer. It was a miracle no coffee was spilled.

There was an understanding at Resistance that they could listen to music or podcasts as long as they got all their work done, so Rey wasn’t too bothered about any repercussions of watching a two and a half minute long video. And what a video it was. It was glorious and Rey thought it was possibly the best video she had ever seen.

“That speeder chase and the explosions and the music,” Rey danced around the room, which she was known to do when she was over excited. “So good.”

Finn, Jess and Snap just sat there looking at her like she had gone insane but she didn’t care, the trailer had made her so happy.

“I guess you liked it then?” asked Finn rather sarcastically.

“It was amazing.” Rey said breathlessly as she flopped back down in her chair with a huge smile on her face.

“You’re going to be like this for the next couple of months, aren’t you?” asked Jess.

“Pretty much.”

Rey was positively vibrating with excitement for the rest of the day. It was so noticeable that when Poe came in to check on their work he asked how much coffee she had had to drink. She answered with a goofy laugh and just said that she had just watched the new Space Wars trailer. He just nodded at her but she could tell he didn’t really understand. She was fully aware that no one else would really understand her.

To get through the day, Rey watched the trailer a couple more times then put on the previous film’s soundtrack on repeat.

The theme tune was stuck in her head as she walked to the station that evening, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and her jubilant mood continued. Even being jostled on the crowded platform couldn’t ruin her mood.

When she spotted Ben, she kind of wanted to bound up to him but knew deep down that it was both impossible in the tight space and inappropriate, they weren’t good enough friends for that. So she did her usual trick of sliding up next to him in the carriage.

“Hi,” she said a little too loudly, even to be heard over the sound of the train moving, and enthusiastically.

“Hey,” he said looking down at her, visibly put off by what must have been an almost manic smile. “You seem...happy.”

“Yes. I’m just so excited about the new Space Wars trailer.” Ben rolled his eyes and turned away. “But I know that you don’t like it, and as I can’t think of anything else to talk about, I’m just going to go back over there. Bye bye.”

When Rey got back to her room, she made herself a simple stir-fry. She had decided she should learn how to cook and so far nothing had been disastrous. She sat and ate her dinner on her bed realising she should probably get around to buying a bedside table so she could use the chair she was currently using, to eat her dinner at the tiny table that had come with the room.

Rey had the rest of the evening free, she always had free evenings, which was just as well as the fan fiction website she used was inundated with new works, most of which centred around the scene from the trailer where Kira and Wren were talking through electrified prison bars, the most intriguing part of the trailer for a shipper.

***

“OK. I’ve calmed down now.” It was true, Rey had kept her excitement about Space Wars to herself and to a minimum, having listened to the soundtrack for most of the day again and spending her lunch break researching merchandise release dates and budgeting accordingly.

“If you were going on holiday tomorrow, where would you go?”

Ben looked thoughtful for a moment. Rey was glad that he was at least taking this a little bit seriously.

“I think I’d probably go to Naboo,”

“Sounds nice,” Rey was racking her brain for anything she knew about Naboo, but she was drawing a blank. It was probably nice.

“I think I’d go to Scarif. The beaches and the sea look so clear and warm.”

By all accounts Rey shouldn’t like sand having grown up near the beaches of Jakku. It blow inland stopping most plants from growing and it was practically grey in colour. And then there was the sea that even on the sunniest of days was bleak and uninviting. True, there were those who loved Jakku beaches, Rey just wasn’t one of them.

Ben hummed in approval of her suggestion.

***

“What do you want for lunch?” asked Finn leaning back in his chair once he got to a logical place to stop for the morning. “I fancy a burger.”

“I don’t but I will come out with you,” said Rey. She had got up slightly too late to make her sandwich that morning. “Just let me finish this little bit.”

“OK,”

They left a few minutes later and headed down the road that had the most lunch options for the workers in the many surrounding office buildings.

Rey was huddled up in her jacket but it wasn’t quite enough. It was weird to think that a couple of weeks ago it was warm enough to go without a jacket and now she needed to go buy a winter coat.

“I’ll meet up with you in a bit.” Finn said when they got to a place that did take-away burgers.

There was a lot of choice for lunch which would suit someone who was more adventurous than Rey. Instead she played it safe and went into a sandwich shop a couple of doors down, grabbed the meal deal and joined the queue to pay.

It being peak lunchtime rush the queue was quite long. The staff were used to this and would get people through as quickly as possible, but it gave Rey a few minutes to people watch.

There was nothing too interesting about the other customers, they were all city workers like her come to get their lunch.

“I don’t understand how their presentation could so utterly miss the mark.”

“Sometimes I think Bertie could do a better job.”

“Not Alfie?”

“That seems like too much of an insult.”

“When has that ever stopped you?”

That was the conversation between the two men who joined the queue behind her. Rey knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping but she couldn’t help turning around because one of the men sounded very familiar.

Surprise, surprise Ben was stood behind her in a long black wool coat with his own meal deal in his hands. The man he was stood talking to was dressed in just as much black as Ben but it didn’t quite suit him as well. Maybe because he wasn’t as tall or didn't fill out his suit as much or maybe it was because it made the colour of his ginger hair stick out even more.

Maybe it’s this guy’s kids Ben is Godfather too, thought Rey. Hux was it?

Ben nodded at her when he noticed her and she smiled back then turned back in the direction of the line. She was glad he had decided not to totally ignore her in public.

“Do you know her?” Rey heard Hux whisper to Ben. Before she could hear Ben’s response, Finn came into the shop to find her.

“Hey Rey, I got this voucher that...Eep,” Finn made a strange sound when he saw the two men stood behind her, then bolted from the shop.

“Finn!” she called after him but he was already out the door.

“What was that about?” muttered Hux. Ben just shrugged like he wasn’t really interested in the situation.

“Next please,” called the woman on the till and Rey realised it was her turn and she was holding up the line. She hurriedly paid and for her items and rushed off after Finn.

“What was that all about?” Rey asked as she caught up with him at the office.

“Sorry. Those were the guys who interviewed me at First Order Financial.”

“Oh, don’t you think you overreacted a little?”

“No those guys are evil.”

“Ok,” Rey went to back away slowly. How bad this interview been and could one person really act so different in and outside work?

***

Rey decided not to question Finn again about his interview at First Order, it had obviously scarred him. She had also decided not to ask Ben about it. She wouldn’t have anything to do with him while he was working so he could keep doing what he was doing without being interrupted by her.

So the next time she saw him, her random questions remained light. “Can you drive?”

“Yes,”

“But you chose not to?” They were on the tube after all.

“Obviously. Would you like to drive into the middle of Coruscant every morning?”

“Definitely not. The people here can’t drive.” That earned a knowing smile from Ben, and it was true. She had seen no end of people badly merging lanes, jumping lights and pulling out since she’d moved. It seemed that the horn was an essential tool when driving in the city.

“Although I do miss driving sometimes.” Rey said. “I had to drive twenty miles to and from college when I was there. It gave me my own space to think and just listen to the radio.”

That was probably the only thing she missed about Jakku.

***

On Saturday, Rey was on the tube back from a rather successful shopping trip. She had got a winter coat, which she was currently wearing, and some more long sleeved shirts. She had also got the latest Space Wars novel released in anticipation of the next film. It was a hardback and therefore more expensive, but she needed it so she didn’t mind treating herself. Not being able to wait also meant that she started to read it as soon as she sat down.

She looked up at the end of the second chapter to check where she was and spotted an advert she hadn’t seen before.

“Porgs!” Rey said with delight and immediately covered her face with her book. Luckily the carriage was quiet and those around her were too busy with their own thing to notice her.

Peeking out from behind her book, Rey took a better look at the advert. It seemed to be for a children’s TV show called Porg Island and showed a family of clay-mation style porgs.

Rey was completely hooked already. Despite being endangered and unbelievably cute, there wasn’t much discourse surrounding porgs, which Rey always found disappointing.

As soon as Rey got home, she got on her laptop to find out more about the show, completely forgetting about her new book, which was just as well as she would need something to read on her commute next week.

Her internet search revealed that it was the brainchild of retired heavy metal guitarist Charles ‘Chewie’ Bacca. He was big into conservation and had recently taken over the running of Ahch-To, the island that was home to one of the last wild colonies of porgs, having completed his doctorate.

It looked and sounded adorable, and from the clips she had seen, she very much wanted to see more.

That was how Rey found herself three hours later having binge watched the whole series. She felt both warm and fuzzy from having watched something so sweet and innocent, and sad that she had watched it all and there was nothing else now.

It definitely was a kids show but it had such good messages about family, friendship and the environment, that it was good to watch at any age.

It followed Percy and his sister Penny and their adventures around Porg Island, as well as their interactions with the other animals that lived there.

Rey’s favourite character, besides baby Pip who was only born in the last episode and was literally just a ball of fluff, was Kylo the sea serpent. Percy and Penny were initially scared of him, but despite his size and appearance, he was really nice and they all ended up being good friends.

Rey couldn’t help but smile and hold her Porgi close while she was watching it. She had had little opportunity to do this when she was in the show’s target demographic, it felt good to do it now at her leisure.

***

“Rey?” Jess said when Rey came back into the office from getting her lunch and tipped out her haul onto the table. “Should we be concerned?”

“Why?” Rey asked as she picked up one of the chocolate surprise eggs that had rolled on to the floor.

“How many did you buy?” Jess asked looking over at Rey’s pile.

“Ten. It was two for a pound.”

“That didn’t mean you had to buy ten.”

“But I want all the surprise toys.” Rey couldn’t help herself when she walked past a small newsagents and saw that they were selling chocolate surprise eggs with little Porg Island toys inside.

Jess just rolled her eyes and went back to her own lunch.

Rey delighted in opening the surprise eggs. She always remembered looking at them longingly as a child but never being able to have one. Now she could have as many as she wanted, let people like Jess and the newsagent think she was weird all they wanted.

Out of the ten eggs she bought, Rey only got three duplicates, which was pretty good going with surprise toys. She got all the main characters; Percy, Penny, Pip as an egg, Mummy Porg, Daddy Porg, Pinchy the crab and Kylo. She was especially pleased she got Kylo. She sat them on top of her computer tower and wondered what to do with the duplicates.

“Hey Finn. You’ve got little nieces and nephews. Do they watch Porg Island?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty much been on repeat at my house for the past week.”

“Great. Do you think they’d like these toys?” She handed the small pieces of plastic to Finn.

“Sure they will.” He spotted the pile of uneaten chocolate on her desk. “What are you going to do with all that?”

“Yeah, I need to find something to put that in.” She had eaten a couple of eggs, but there was no way she could eat ten eggs worth of chocolate.

***

“Do you like porgs?” Rey asked Ben.

“They’re alright.” Ben sound in a bored tone which surprised Rey as she thought he was beginning to warm up to her.

“Well I’ve always loved porgs and then at the weekend I discovered a show called Porg Island which is about -”

“I am well aware of what the show is about.” Ben interrupted.

“You do?” That confused her at first then she remembered, “I take it you Godkids watch it a lot.”

“Yeah they do,”

“Come on, it’s not that bad,” she playfully nudged him. “It’s fun and cute.”

“I don’t do cute.”

“I bet you like it really,” she teased. “You may pretend that you’re this big, brooding, serious guy, but deep down you’re really nice. Like Kylo the sea serpent.”

Ben rolled his eyes at her but she could see a hint of a smile. “What makes you think I’m nice?”

“I’ve seen you with those children and they really like you. And even though I’m fairly certain that you find me really annoying, you haven’t lost your temper with me.” she smiled at him sweetly. “My friend Finn on the other hand, thinks you’re evil.”

“Who’s Finn?”

“Guy I work with. Apparently being interviewed by you is a very traumatic experience. He was the guy who ran away from the sandwich shop the other day.”

“I did wonder what that was about,” Ben let out a snort of laughter. “But I can’t say I remember him exactly.”

“I’ll let him know. Might make him calm down about the situation.”

***

“So Rey,” Finn rolled up to her desk on his wheelie chair. “I’m stuck babysitting my nephew at the weekend and I thought you’d like to come to the zoo with us.”

“Why?” Rey said sceptically.

“Well, the zoo and some conservation charity held a competition at some of the local primary schools in Coruscant and my nephew was one of the winners.”

“That’s really cool, but why would you want me to go? How many nephews are you taking?” That was the only reasonable explanation as to why he was asking her to go with him, to help babysit.

“Just one otherwise everyone would have to come and spaces are limited. No I thought you might like to go because the prize is Porg Island themed.” Rey lit up.

“We get exclusive access to the porg enclosure, there’s some arts and crafts for the kids, models from the show and lunch. Charles Bacca is actually going to be there, which is probably more for the adults, and then we spend an hour watching episodes from the show. So what do you say?”

Rey let out a very high pitched excited squeal. Finn just laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Meet us outside the zoo at nine on Saturday.”

Rey couldn’t speak, she just beamed.

“Has anyone told you that you get obsessed with things way too easily?” said Jess from across the room with an almost sneer.

***

Rey got up bright and early on Saturday morning as usual, and got ready to meet Finn and his nephew at the zoo. All her usual chores could wait until tomorrow.

She hadn’t realised how easy it was to get to the zoo. All she had to do was go seven stops on her usual train and then walk five minutes down the road and she was there.

When Rey got there, she saw Finn was waiting outside the turnstile with a little boy. It was very easy to spot them as there weren’t many people around. The main zoo didn’t open until ten.

“Hey,” Finn said smoothly when he saw her. It was really weird seeing him in casual clothes after seeing him in a suit all week.

“Uncle Finn can we go in now we’re going to be late.” the little boy pulled on Finn’s arm to no avail.

“Just a minute buddy. This is my friend Rey. Rey this is my nephew Mason.”

Mason stopped tugging on Finn and looked at her with big brown eyes that made Rey nervous. Why had she agreed to this? She didn’t know anything about children, didn’t really know if she even liked them.

“Hi Mason,” she said with a nervous smile. Was she supposed to shake his hand, high five, fist bump?

“Hi,” he replied quietly almost hiding behind Finn’s leg.

“Ok, let’s go in now,” said Finn who was the least awkward of them all.

They went to sign in and got special wrist bands because they were going to an event and followed the signs to the events centre next to the porg enclosure.

It was so weird being in the zoo with practically no one else around with only the sounds of the animals and Mason chatting away to Finn.

When they got to the events centre, they were each given a number as guests were being split into groups, and Mason got a goodie bag as he was the competition winner.

There was some coffee, juice and pastries waiting for them inside as well as all twenty competition winners and at least twice as many parents, guardians and other siblings.

So many people, Rey thought and she could feel herself beginning to panic. What are you doing? You get on the tube every day at rush hour. You can handle a room full of children, said the most reasonable voice in her head.

“You’re right,” she said out loud.

“You say something?”Finn asked half distracted keeping an eye on his nephew.

“I said you alright? Do you want a coffee?” she said quickly to save herself.

“Yeah sure, thanks.” he smiled at her and she went to get them both a drink. She almost tripped over a child twice, but she got back to Finn without spilling any hot liquid just as the event was starting.

“Good morning ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, and welcome to the Coruscant Zoo’s porg experience.” an older looking man in a zoo keepers uniform said into a microphone at the front of the room. There was a polite clapping from the adults in the room.

“My name is Cliff and we have some fun activities planned for you this morning and to tell you all about it, let me introduce the sponsor of today’s event, Charles Bacca.” There was a bigger round of applause this time, especially from some of the dads, as Chewie came out onto the stage. The children probably had no idea who this man was, but they were having fun clapping along.

He was very tall, probably nearly seven foot tall, and he had kept his hair and beard long as an illusion to his rock star days, though now it was streaked through with grey. His long arms were also hairy which covered up the tattoos you could see were under there. All of this juxtaposed the bright blue t-shirt he was wearing with the Porg Island logo on, and the fact that he was very comfortable in a room full of excitable small children.

Rey knew she should be paying attention to what Chewie was saying as his rough and heavily accented voice was hard to understand sometimes, but something, or more specifically someone across the room had caught her attention.

Ben was standing over on the other side of the room carrying the same little redheaded girl from the park. She was obviously too tired to stand, it was still early after all.

Rey wondered what he could be doing there. Of course one of the children could have won the competition just like Mason had, but what were the chances of that? Besides, why was he here? As she scanned the room she saw both the very tall woman with the baby in the pram and Hux stood with the little boy, confirming her suspicions. She made a note not to point out that they were here to Finn.

Her musings were disturbed when she realised that everyone had started moving and she had missed the whole announcement, and therefore had no idea what was going on.

“Come on Uncle Finn. We have to go with Jimmy and Mellie.” Mason said pulling Finn by the arm. Rey was glad someone was paying attention.

Rey sneakily watched Ben to see if they were going to the same room, it would be their kind of luck if they were, but he went off with another group and Rey didn’t know if she was relieved by that or not.

Their first activity was the arts and crafts activity where each of the children were given a small ceramic porg to paint.

“Uncle Finn can you help me?” asked Mason.

“Of course bud,” Finn sat down on the tiny plastic bench beside his nephew, leaving Rey stood awkwardly behind them.

“If any of the adults would like to do some painting as well, we do have a few spares. Just please make sure your child is supervised.” Mellie said in a bored tone, like she really didn’t want to be doing this today, but Rey didn’t particularly care, she was going to paint herself a porg.

“I want the body to be blue and the wings red and -” Mason was telling Finn how he wanted his porg to be painted but stopped as soon as she sat down next to them. She tried smiling at him but Mason just stared at her unnervingly.

“OK buddy. I’ve outlined the body for you, now you can fill in the middle.” Finn didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and handed Mason the paintbrush. “How are you going to paint your porg Rey?”

“Oh, I’m just going to make it look like a normal porg.”

“What’s wrong with having a blue porg?” asked Mason who had finished painting the blue part of his porg.

“What? Nothing’s wrong with a blue porg, that’s not what I meant.” said Rey flustered.

“You know that’s not what she meant. Now paint the wings red.” Finn said sternly.

“Why are you here anyway? This is meant to be my time with Uncle Finn.” Mason said as he angrily applied the red paint.

“I’m sorry Mason, but Finn thought I’d like to see the porgs with you. It is a really cool prize you won.” Rey said calmly, trying not to let any of the hurt she felt show.

“OK, you can stay. I want to paint the head yellow.”

“Mason, she was going to stay anyway.” Finn didn’t really know what else to say, he just mouthed sorry at Rey. She just shook her head and got on with painting her porg.

Rey finished her little porg just in time for them to move onto the next activity, taking a look at some of the sets and props from the show with a couple of animators and Chewie herself.

The group left their newly painted porgs on a table at the back of the room to dry and for them to pick up later.

If the event was for an older age group and not a bunch of hyperactive primary school kids, then there probably would have been a talk on the animation process, but instead it was pretty much an opportunity to take pictures of the different characters and set pieces that were set up in the room.

The animators had set up a shoot to show people how the show was created, painstakingly moving each piece millimeter by millimeter between frames.

Mason was being a little less hostile towards her and was even chatting to her about his favourite characters and which episodes each of the set pieces were from.

She was having fun taking pictures of Mason and Finn pulling faces in front of the various characters. Rey had to get a picture of her with Kylo’s character model and Finn had to get a picture with Chewie for one of his brothers who was a fan of his music.

“Uncle Finn, do you want me to take a picture of you and Rey?” asked Mason towards to end of the session.

“Ok, Rey do you want to?” She nodded. It would be nice to take a picture with someone for once. Finn unlocked his phone and gave it to Mason.

“OK, say cheese.”

“Cheese!” They said together smiling. Rey thought it would have been better to think of something porg related to say, but Mason was only five after all.

“You taken the picture buddy?” Finn said when Mason didn’t hand the phone back straight away.

“Why don’t you have any pictures of your girlfriend Uncle Finn?” Mason asked as he swiped the screen.

“Girlfriend?”

“Hey stop going through my phone.” Finn said as he snatched it back. His anger disappeared quickly though. “Rey’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend that is a girl.”

“Ok,” Mason perked up and came over to her. “I like you now that I know you’re not taking my Uncle Finn away.”

“That’s great kid,” Rey said with an uncertain smile. “Just give me a minute, OK.”

Rey grabbed Finn’s arm and pushed him to the edge of the room out of earshot of everyone else. “Please, please, please tell me that this wasn’t some convoluted way to ask me out?”

“No. I really just thought you’d like to see the porgs, and it seems like you don’t get out much at the weekend, so I thought you would like to come with us.”

“Oh. Good because I don’t like you that way.” Rey said indignantly. 

“I don’t like you that way either. Now let go of my arm and we’ll just ignore the ramblings of a five year old and get on with the tour.”

Rey hadn’t realised she was still holding his arm and quickly let go, and they both went back to join Mason and the rest of the group.

Their last session of the day was to meet the real life porgs living at the zoo. The children crowded around the barrier while the adults stood behind them, while Cliff and his fellow keeper Mindy talked about the porgs.

“All of the keepers have their favourite porg that we look after, and this one’s mine,” Cliff pointed down at his boots where a very round porg with bright orange feathers on his head, was pecking at the laces of his boots. “This is Garfield. Say hello Garfield.”

He moved his foot away and Garfield squawked, earning a giggle from the kids.

“Garfield is a bit overweight at the moment because we discovered he was stealing food from the other porgs. So now he is on a diet and has to do exercise. Luckily he will follow me everywhere, look.”

Cliff stepped back and then to the side and Garfield followed him, waddling on his stubby little legs.

Mindy held another porg for them to look at, a lovely well behaved female called Chloe. They weren’t allowed to touch the porgs because they were endangered, but they were getting a lot closer to them than regular zoo guests and the got to ask lots of questions. Rey learnt a few new things about porgs.

“Have you got your juice box?” Finn asked Mason as they filed past a table of items they could have for lunch. It wasn’t the best selection of food but it was free and at least the zoo had provided something.

All the groups were back together again to watch some episodes of Porg Island to finish off the morning. There was a big projection screen set up at one end of the room, with some cushions on the floor for the kids to sit on and then some benches behind them.

“I want to sit on the floor.” Mason said.

“Ok bud we’ll be on the bench right behind you,” said Finn.

Rey had a look around them once they sat down. The room wasn’t very interesting and she really wasn’t interested in any of the antics of the children or their parents, so she looked around to see if she could find Ben again.

He wasn’t that hard to spot. He sat on the back row with his equally tall friends so that they didn’t get in anyone else’s way.

Ben gave her a nod and a subtle smile when he caught her looking at him and she smiled back.

“What are you looking at?” asked Finn looking towards the back of the room. His face dropped when he recognised the people sat there. “No no no no no. What are they doing here?”

“Finn stop. Calm down.” she said grabbing his arm before he could bolt again. “They’re probably here for the same reason we are, and you need to get over whatever happened in that interview. They don’t remember you, so it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“How do you know they don’t remember me?”

Luckily she was saved from giving an answer when the lights were dimmed and the show began to start.

It wasn’t totally dark, so she could see that Ben’s godson had sat next to Mason and was sharing some sweets with him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go get food with us Rey?” Mason asked as they were walking back towards the tube station.

“No it’s Ok. You go have your Uncle Finn time.” she said. Mason was actually being quite nice now, even holding her hand as they walked.

“You sure?” asked Finn.

“Yeah, thanks for inviting me. I had a lot of fun.”

“Ok. Bye bye Rey.” Mason said, he even hugged her around the waist, before they waved her off and continued on down the road to the food market that was there.

Rey got on her train to go back home and was a little disappointed that Ben hadn’t caught her up so they could travel together.

***

“Did you enjoy the porg event on Saturday?” Rey asked Ben on Monday evening.

“It was alright. It was meant for the children.” Ben said with a shrug.

“Yeah but seeing the porgs close up was cool and we got to meet Charles Bacca for free and he’s an actual celebrity.”

“None of the kids knew who he was. Did you notice that he would take pictures with people but wouldn’t sign or talk about anything to do with The Wookie Collective?”

“Well he’s really changed his life around hasn’t he?”

***

It was a couple of days before she saw Ben again and the carriage was so crowded that she thought they had missed each other again. It also meant that by the time she had manoeuvred herself next to him it was almost his stop.

“Ok, only got time for a really quick question, ummm,” she had to think while he looked down at her expectantly. “When’s your birthday?”

She didn’t know why she asked that it was by far the most personal thing she had asked.

The train pulled into Ben’s station.

“The nineteenth,” he said then he stepped off onto the platform.

“What, no, Ben,” the doors closed in her face. “There are twelve nineteenths in a year.” Ben waved at her as the train began to pull away.

***

The nineteenth, Rey thought to herself on Saturday as she wandered through the supermarket. Tuesday was the nineteenth, did that mean it was Ben’s birthday on Tuesday or was he just being an ass again and giving her annoying vague answers?

She decided to assume it was his birthday and if it wasn’t, it was his fault.

Then she thought about whether or not it would be weird to get him a present and what it would be. He was obviously rich, she could tell by his shoes and watch and coat, and she was decidedly not. What do you buy the guy who could afford pretty much anything?

***

On Tuesday morning, Rey did something she never normally did, she got up and went over to Ben when he got on. Her seat was immediately taken by a fellow commuter so there was no going back.

“Hi,” she said. She was abnormally shy this morning.

“Hi,” he said. They had never talked in the mornings and Rey noticed that it was less likely for them to be on the same train in the morning.

“Happy Birthday,” Rey watched him for some kind of reaction but got none. “I know you didn’t say it was this month, I just assumed. I got you a present.” She handed him a small wrapped gift. She had gone for something simple and practical in the end, and most importantly, something that she could find in the supermarket.

He took it from her, but she couldn’t read his expression, but her mind automatically jumped to the bad conclusion.

“If it’s not your birthday or you don’t like the present or I’ve made things super awkward between us, I’ll get off, switch trains and we’ll forget this happened.”

“No, no it’s really nice of you. Thank you.” he smiled making her blush.

“You haven’t seen it yet.”

Ben unwrapped his present, which wasn’t very hard as Rey didn’t have any tape, to reveal the red tie she had bought him.

“You don’t like it,” he hadn’t said anything but there was a look on his face that Rey interpreted as dislike. The truth was that she had little experience buying presents, she just thought Ben could use some colour in his wardrobe.

“No, no I never said that. Look,” He set his bag down and actually changed his tie right there on the train, somehow not hitting anyone in the face with it. “There, how do I look?”

“Very nice,” Rey resisted the urge to reach out and smooth it down against his chest. “So you like it then?”

“Of course, it’s my favourite colour.”

“So is today your birthday or have I just given you a free tie?”

“Yes it is, but you didn’t have to get me anything, no one else does.”

“That’s so sad.” Though she could relate, no one got her any presents either. Ben just shrugged, he didn’t look too bothered.

“I’ll tell you what. As for some reason, you’ve been really kind to me for the past couple of months, I’ll be your friend.”

“Really?”

“Really,”

She squealed with excitement not really caring that she was on a crowded train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're thinking "This chapter ends on the 19th, what happens for the rest of the month?", have no fear. My idea for this story is to have a part 2 told from Ben's pov to fill in the gaps. I won't be starting that until I've finished with this one though.


	4. December

Rey woke up very excited on the first of December. Not only did she get to finally open her advent calendar that had been sitting on the side for a few days now, but the release of the new Space Wars movie was less than three weeks away and she couldn’t wait.

The weather was definitely colder and wetter now as she hurried to the station wrapped up in her winter coat. She just wished there wasn’t such a temperature difference when she got on the underground. Outside you’d be crazy if you weren’t wearing a coat, but once everyone was crowded onto the train, you want nothing more than to take it off.

Rey did her best to distract herself from her discomfort by reading her book or fanfiction. She wondered if she’d still be reading it in a few weeks or if she’d move onto something else.

There was one thing the underground was good at and that was making the city air of Coruscant feel fresh.

Rey walked into the Resistance offices to see that someone had been very busy during the night putting up the tree and decorating the place in orange and white decorations, the company colours.

She couldn’t help but smile even though she had no strong feelings about Christmas, she didn’t love it as it reminded her of all the disappointment in her life, but neither did she hate it as she liked to see other people having fun. Although there were some she heard grumble as they walked into the building.

“Good morning everybody.” Rose said cheerfully as she came into their office with a big box and wearing an elf hat that really suited her.

“As you know every year the management orders in a whole bunch of advent calendars for the staff. We have vegan and dairy free options, and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can use them as a countdown to the office being closed. So who wants one?”

Jess didn’t want one as she was determined to look good in the very skimpy dress she was going to wear at a New Year’s Eve party, but Snap took one and so did Finn.

“Someone always steals my chocolate at home,” he said.

“Rey, do you want one?” Rose asked as she was the only one left.

“No its ok, I have one at home.”

“Oh, but I have the perfect one for you,” she shuffled through her box and pulled one out. “See?”

Rey had to admit it was pretty much perfect and would look great on her desk. The picture on the front was of the characters from Porg Island in Christmas hats in the snow.

“Aww, but I’d have to rip the picture to get to the chocolate.” she complained.

“Not if you open the box from the top, then you can just slide out the tray.” Everyone turned to look at Finn. “What? They steal my chocolate, I’m going to steal theirs right back.”

***

“Did you have a good day at work?” Rey asked Ben as they waited for the train that was going in their direction. She practically had to shout to be heard over the sound of the other people, the trains and the announcements all amplified by the curved walls of the tunnel. Maybe that was the real reason you aren’t allowed to talk to anyone on the underground, it’s just too damn loud.

“Same old really. Nothing too interesting happened.”

They paused their conversation while their train pulled up and they filed on. Ben made sure that Rey could stand next to the rail she could actually reach. It was easy for him to hold the overhead rail being so tall.

“What about you?” asked Ben having to lean down slightly so she could hear.

“Work was fine,” she tried not to sound bored. She liked her job, but when they had decided to become proper friends, they both realised they weren’t particularly interested in each others jobs. “But at lunchtime the tickets for Space Wars went on pre-sale and -”

“Nope,” Ben interrupted her. That annoyed her a bit. She was really excited that she had managed to get an aisle seat at the midnight showing on opening day. She had got the aisle seat so that she only had to deal with one person, or only one person had to deal with her. Either way, she was seeing this film as soon as she possibly could.

“We are not talking about that film.”

“Fine. What do you want to talk about then?” Ben took a long moment to come up with something. “Not so easy is it?”

“Shut up.” he said but there was no malice behind it. “How about, where did you live before moving to Coruscant?”

Rey made a face. She wasn’t too keen on explaining her history to Ben, at least not for a while.

“You don’t have to give me details. I won’t pry. Just the place name.” he seemed quite good at reading her hesitation. Rey sighed.

“Jakku,”

“Oh,” he had obviously heard of it or at least it’s reputation. “The good side or -”

“The bad side,” she answered and finished for him. “Yeah that’s prying.”

“Sorry. You’ve done well for yourself.” Rey let the matter go. She didn’t see the point in getting angry at Ben. They were still trying to get to know each other.

“What about you then?” she asked him.

“Mainly Alderaan.”

Wow, she thought. The good side or the really good side, but she kept that to herself.

“Why mainly?” she asked instead.

“That’s prying.”

“You get one, I get one.” she retorted. He wasn’t going to get away with things so easily.

“I was...moved around a lot, but always returned to Alderaan eventually.”

Rey though that was a strange way to put it, but she wouldn’t press him about it. When she was ready to tell her story, maybe he’d be ready to tell his.

***

When Rey ended up spilling pasta sauce all over her duvet, she decided it was beyond time that she used her chair for its designed purpose, and buy a proper bedside table. And while she was doing that she also ordered a bookshelf.

She managed to them them delivered on a Saturday when she was in and when she had time to put them together. There wasn’t a lot of space in her room, only just enough space to lay out all the pieces from the boxes and some room to work.

Soon enough both the bookshelf and bedside table were complete. Rey hadn’t found the exercise too difficult. Sure the instructions were simplistic but they were also straightforward and logical. It seemed to be a comedic cliche that flat pack furniture instructions were impossible to follow.

With her new little table nestled nicely next to her bed, the bookshelf up against the wall now housing all of the Space Wars books she had acquired over the last couple of months, and the chair back in it’s rightful place, Rey thought her tiny room was starting to look quite homely. Though there were still some things missing.

The books she had only filled up one shelf leaving most of it empty, and there was nothing on top of her bedside table except her phone on charge. Conversely her table had just been a dumping ground for anything and everything as she wasn’t using it to eat off of. 

It was time to go and buy things Rey had never seen the point in buying before, things to make the place look pretty.

***

“So here’s my bedside table,” Rey was showing Ben pictures of the things she had built at the weekend on her phone while trying to balance as the train moved. “I found a cheap blue lamp and some coasters. It still looks a bit bare but I don’t know what else to put on it.”

“Most people would have a clock or a picture frame.” Ben suggested.

“But I use my phone for the time.” she pointed out not drawing any attention to the picture frame suggestion. That would be a good idea if she had any pictures to put in one.

“It also has a drawer that I can put my -”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Ben interrupted quickly.

“I was just going to say my emergency biscuits.” She saw him breathe a sigh of relief. “What did you think I was going to say?”

“Something wholly less,” Ben coughed a little and blushed. “Innocent.”

“What do you mean?” Rey was confused.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re going to think I’m creepy and weird for bringing it up. Anyway, what else did you build?” he said hastily. Rey looked at him suspiciously but carried on.

“Well I put together a bookshelf. I have a few books but not that many. So I’ve put a few on each shelf with some random little ornaments I found and a little fake Christmas tree on top.”

It had been quite difficult to find ornaments and trinkets that weren’t Christmas themed considering the time of the year, but Rey thought she had got a good selection of glitter unicorns and pineapples to make her room look a bit more lively. She was planning on swapping out the Christmas tree for another fake plant in the new year.

Ben leaned in and squinted at her phone screen to get a closer look at the screen. Rey didn’t want to move as he was so close, she didn’t want to draw attention to this and make it awkward, she kind of liked it.

“Are all of those books -?” Ben started.

“Space Wars? Yes.” she beamed up at him.

“Surely you must read other things?”

“Nope. I have been reading nothing but Space Wars tie in novels and Space Wars fan fiction since September.” she wasn’t really ashamed by that fact.

“But what about the classics, modern epics, historical fiction?”

“I may take a look at those once the Space Wars hype dies down,” If it dies down, after all there was another film in the trilogy to go. Rey saw Ben shake his head in resignment.

“Let me tell you why I love Space Wars so much.”

“Another time perhaps.” The train pulled into Ben’s station and they said goodbye for the day.

***

It wasn’t until later that night that Rey realised what Ben was alluding to with regards to the drawer on her bedside table.

As usual, she was sat in bed reading fan fiction before she went to sleep. At one point in this story Wren was putting something back in Kira’s bedroom when he found her collection of very adult toys in the open drawer of her bedside table.

Rey had to stop reading at that point. Did Ben really think that’s what she had in her drawer or did he just think that that was what she was going to say? Either way it was rather embarrassing that she hadn’t understood what he meant.

Should I get one? She asked herself. Might be fun.

She very quickly thought better of it. She was too nervous to even order something like that online in relative anonymity. Besides, even though some stories made her a little hot and bothered, she had never felt the need to chase that feeling.

What Rey wanted most really, was someone to come home to, someone to stick with her so she wasn’t alone.

***

“Why I love Space Wars: A Coruscant Underground extended essay by Rey Bennet.” Rey said with a grin when she and Ben got on the tube. She had been planning how to present this all day.

“No, please,” Ben grimaced. “Let’s talk about something else. Anything.”

“How about, why Han Solo is the greatest actor of his generation?”

“No.”

“Or we can discuss how Princess Leia is a feminist icon,”

“Can we choose a different icon?” he looked like he was hoping to change her mind. No such luck, Rey never changed her mind once it was set on something.

“Fine,” he admitted defeat. “Do you know nothing but Space Wars?”

“I do at the moment. So, why do I love Space Wars?”

“You know what? I think I’ll get off here and enjoy the walk home.” Ben did make as if to go out of the doors as the train pulled into the station.

“Ben.” she grabbed his arm to stop him leaving. “Don’t be silly. It’s pitch black outside.”

“Well you’d better tell this story quickly as I’ve only got three more stops left.”

“That’s because you keep wasting time. Might have to make this a two parter.”

“The short version would be preferable.” he looked down at her hand that was still holding onto his sleeve. She quickly let go and willed herself not to blush.

In her long version of the answer, Rey had carefully crafted a vision that breezed over her exact circumstances growing up, but for a short version she didn’t really know how to put it.

“Um well. It speaks to me. I see it as a story about family and how the people around you are your family rather than the people you’re related to by blood. They stick together, go on daring adventures, and as a kid that’s what I really wanted. Still do actually.”

They both stood quietly for a moment.

“You’re right about one thing,” Ben said with a small, sad smile. “The people you chose to be your family are a hell of a lot more reliable than your real family.”

A small piece of hair had escaped from her ponytail, and Rey held her breathe as Ben gently tucked it behind her ear.

Well that was new and she liked it. She smiled and blushed gently as Ben left to go home.

***

“So my mum draws the line at twelve people for Christmas dinner itself, but we’ll probably have nearly forty people over in total.” Finn was talking about what he would be doing on Christmas day.

“How do you even fit that many people into a house?”

“Where do all the others eat?”

“How does your mother cope cooking for so many?”

Jess, Snap and Rey all chimed in with questions. There had been a bit of a lull in their work, so they were just sat around talking.

“In order: I don’t know but it’s very cosy, they all live close by so they have their own dinner then come over, and lastly she’s had a lot of practice.”

“I’m going back to Akiva to spend the holidays with my mother and her unofficial boyfriend and the stray cat they took in.”

Rey kind of wanted to hear more about the stray cat. She had always related to the animal but Jess had decided it was her turn.

“Christmas day is just for children. Grown ups get to have fun on New Year’s Eve.” she said over dramatically. “My sister’s got us into the most exclusive party in the city, right on Coruscant’s waterfront with the hottest and richest people around.”

“Jess we know. You told us last week.” said Snap as calmly and as kindly as he could so that he didn’t inadvertently hurt her feelings.

“Oh did I?” she obviously didn’t remember because none of them were excited about this party like she was. “Did I show you my dress?”

She tried to shove her phone in his face to show him the picture, but Snap backed right the way off.

“Yeah you did.”

The dress in question was a slinky silvery number that barely covered anything and practically dripped off of Jess’ curves. It was most definitely not Rey’s thing.

“Rey what are you going to be doing?” Finn asked so they could move on from Jess’ dress.

Rey had been dreading her turn as there was nothing to tell. There was no trip, no party and no family. The only thing she was planning to do in the ten days she had off was maybe seeing Space Wars again.

“Um. I was just going to relax, maybe catch up on some reading, start a new hobby, see whether shopping in the sales is as bad as they say it is.”

She stopped to find that the others were just staring at her.

“Is that is?” said Jess.

“Yeah,” Rey sighed.

“But there’s nothing to look forward to. This time of the year is supposed to be special. You’re plans just sound...lonely.”

“It’s never been special to me,” Rey shrugged. “And I’ve always been alone. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put my headphones in and finish this report.”

“Rey is everything ok?” Finn asked.

“Yeah I didn’t mean anything by what I said.” Jess said sadly.

“It’s fine,” Rey said trying to smile but couldn’t. “You do you and I’ll do me and everything will be fine.”

Rey had her headphones in for the rest of the day and tried to concentrate on her work, but she could still feel the others’ pitying eyes on her.

She wasn’t in the best mood when she finally left work that evening. She was caught somewhere between jealousy and sadness having heard everyone else’s Christmas plans. Rey knew she probably shouldn’t have done it but she did, she asked Ben what his plans were.

“I have to spend it with my parents, I owe them a favour.”

“You’re spending Christmas with your parents as a favour?” Rey exclaimed a little too loudly and he had to shush her.

“Yes I don’t particularly want to spend time with them. I thought you’d understand that.”

“Why on earth would you think that?” she spat out her words.

“Well when you were saying that you love Space Wars because it was about choosing your own family, I thought yours had let you down like mine let me down.”

“They’re dead.” she said bluntly and she watched Ben’s face as he was struck with the realisation of what he had said. Just to make it hurt a bit more she added. “And there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to spend time with them.”

“Rey I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” he seemed ashamed of himself.

“No one does. I don’t talk about it.” Rey sighed. “I shouldn’t have asked you that. I haven’t had a good day. I should have asked about something fun.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’ll be fine.” It’s what she tells everyone and herself. Maybe one day it would be true.

“If you feel you need to talk to someone, I know a therapist. They’re very reasonable. Could help.” Ben gave her a small reassuring smile that she returned.

“I’ll think about it.” she said quietly.

“Good, now a ‘fun’ question.” Ben looked around the carriage for inspiration. His eyes settled on an advert for a take away company. “What are you having for dinner?”

***

When Rey got to work the next day there was a cake waiting for her on her desk. It was the type of birthday cake you would buy from a supermarket with Percy and Penny from Porg Island printed onto the icing.

“Guys, you didn’t have to.” Rey looked around at the only people who would buy her cake.

“We felt bad.” Jess said meekly. Snap nodded his agreement.

“Here. Mason made you a card.” Finn handed Rey a homemade card with a porg created using potato stamps on the front.

“Aww, that’s so cute. Woah,” she opened the card to find loads of names besides Mason’s.

“Yeah, he told all the other kids about ‘Uncle Finn’s friend who is a girl’ and they all wanted to sign. He likes you by the way.”

Rey found that hard to believe. “I’ve met him once and he spent most of that time being hostile towards me.” There was nothing Finn could really say so he just shrugged.

The atmosphere was much better in the office that day. Rey, Finn and Snap shared the cake and sent a couple of pieces off to Poe and Rose as well. Jess stuck to her celery sticks because, of course, she needed to look good in her dress.

***

“You seem happier today.” Ben said to Rey as they waited for their train.

“I am and I’ll show you why when we get on the train.” Rey had positively giddy all afternoon and was excited to share why even thought she knew Ben wouldn’t appreciate it.

They did their usual shuffle into the already stuffed carriage and wedge themselves in before the door closed and the train departed for the next station.

Rey had to let go of the pole to carefully reach into her bag so that she didn’t disturb the other person she was pushed up against who wasn’t Ben.

“Don’t let me fall,” she said almost jokingly.

“I won’t.” he said and she could tell from his dark eyes that he was deadly serious.

Gosh he has pretty eyes, Rey thought momentarily forgetting what she was meant to be doing.

Snapping out of it, she pulled the comic book out of her bag.

“Here it is. I went and got it at lunchtime.” She had found out at lunchtime that it was entirely possible to get from work to her favourite comic book shop and back again in an hour, as long as she did a bit of power walking and ate her lunch on the tube.

“Really?” Ben said with a raised eyebrow when he noticed the title.

“Yes it’s really good. I’ve already read it. I hid it in a coding book.” Ben was not convinced but Rey was determined to get him to like one aspect of Space Wars. “Look it all pictures, you can at least appreciate the art style.” She flicked through a few pages to show him.

“They look nothing like the characters,” he deadpanned.

“That’s because it’s set ten years before the events of the film when they were teenagers, so of course they don’t look the same. I mean ten years ago I was twelve and I don’t look the same, and ten years ago you were -”

Rey knew she had hammered the point long enough, but even though they had become friends on his birthday, she hadn’t actually found out how old he was.

“Twenty and no I don’t look the same as I did then.” So he’s thirty, she thought.

“See. Anyway, this comic is really cool as if you read it this way to the middle you get Wren’s story, then if you flip it over and read towards the middle this way you get Kira’s story.”

The middle page showed Wren and Kira in the same stance but opposite and it looked like they were circling each other ready for the time when they would actually meet.

Even though they never met, several panel mirrored each other and the comic was taking the KiRen community by storm, giving them what they saw as conformation of a romance. Rey was with them.

“It’s just so amazing that they are on these parallel journeys and that one day they are destined to come together.”

“Parallel means that they never meet.” Ben said his lip twitching the way it did when he was trying not to smile and Rey knew he was teasing her.

***

“You seem sad again. What’s wrong?” Ben asked her as they stood waiting for their train a few days later. He had startled her. She was deep in thought and hadn’t realised she looked sad.

“Sorry I’m not sad, not really. I don’t know how I’m feeling to be honest.” though she did sound melancholic.

“What happened?” he said softly.

“You really won’t care.”

“I’ll try,”

“It’s about Space Wars.” Rey tried not to laugh as she watched his jaw clench.

“I’ll really try.” Ben said through gritted teeth.

“For the whole time these new films have been out, we have never seen what Lady Kira’s lightsaber looks like in detail, not in the films not or visual dictionary or toys. Which is weird because you’d think the company would want to make more money selling toy lightsabers.

Anyway I was scrolling through some different things related to Space Wars, and someone had posted a picture of what they claim to be Kira’s lightsaber, and it’s exactly the same as Wren’s and he uses one of his mother’s lightsabers, the other one went missing when she died.

So now everyone’s saying that this is proof they are brother and sister.”

Rey folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the pole. She was slightly surprised that Ben had just let her talk, patiently waiting for her to finish.

“It could just be a coincidence.”

“Yeah but there must be a reason they’ve kept it a secret for years. They’ve probably been planning some big reveal and now it’s been ruined.” Rey said with a huff.

“Are you upset that they are possibly brother and sister or that it’s been spoilt?”

“Both I guess.” she said with a shrug. “I do like the idea of them being long lost family, it’s just I want a love story as well and if they aren’t the couple then there is no other obvious choice.”

“Well maybe they are planning some big reveal and you’re still going to be surprised.”

“You’re right. Thanks Ben.” she smiled at him. Talking had helped soothe her anxiety about the film.

***

Rey and Porgi were curled up on her bed watching a live stream of the Space Wars Coruscant premier that she had found online. She had kind of wanted to go and line the red carpet but she had no idea how you would go about doing that. So she had found the next best thing. At least she was warm, wasn’t being pushed around by other eager fans and she was able to see more online than she would in person.

But it would have been cool to have seen Tom Alexander and Maisie Ripley, the actors who played Wren and Kira, in person, and been with people who liked Space Wars like she did, rather than the people she usually spends her days with.

She told them as much in the morning.

“Well you don’t actually get to meet them. The most you’ll get is a quick scribble while they move down the line as quick as possible.” said Snap.

“I know, I just think it would be really cool.” Rey replied.

“If you want their autographs, I’ve just found them online for twelve pounds each.” Finn said looking up from his computer.

“Really?” That didn’t sound like a lot, she might even consider it.

“Don’t you think this Tom guy is a bit weird looking?” Jess said in her typical vain way.

“No, well maybe a little bit, but it gives him more character. Besides what do looks matter, he’s a really good actor, there are talks of an academy nomination.” She may have been a bit too defensive, but she couldn’t help it, she liked him.

“For a silly space film?”

“No for a political drama that got released a few weeks ago.”

“But even if you went last night, you wouldn’t have seen the film and that’s what you really want, isn't it?” said Finn hoping to draw this conversation to a close.

“Yeah but I still think being at the premier would be cool,” bemoaned Rey.

“I’ve been to a film premier.” Poe walked in to check on them and caught Rey’s last statement.

“Really!?” she said excitedly knowing the others were all rolling their eyes at her. “What did you do? Did you have to camp? Was it really crowded? Did you get anyone’s autograph?”

Poe was assumed by Rey’s list of quick fire questions and smirked knowing his answer would blow her mind. “Actually, I was on the guest list so I got to see the movie early.”

“No way. What did you see?”

“The last Space Wars film.” Poe took a slip of his coffee while Rey’s jaw hit her desk. “A few of us from here went.”

“What? How?” was all that Rey could manage.

“I told you, Amilyn and the Princess go way back and she invited some of us along.”

“Wait, were we invited to the premier yesterday?” Rey was going to be very angry if they were.

“No because spoiler alert, Han Solo’s character died in the last film, there was no reason for us to be invited.”

***

Rey was practically jumping up and down with excitement all day. Nothing could spoil her mood, not the crowded train, not the jammed photocopier and not Jess being a bitch because she was hungry.

“Guess what today is.” she said to Ben in a sing song voice.

Like he really had to guess. “It gets released tomorrow.”

“Technically one minute past midnight is tomorrow but it feels like today.”

“Wait. You’re going to the midnight showing?” his brows knitted together.

“Yeah,” she beamed. “I had to see the film as soon as humanly possible and I’m so excited. I’ve planned my whole evening out -”

“How are you getting there? How are you getting back? Coruscant can be dangerous late at night.”

“It’ll be fine. I know it’s daunting, but if I give into fear I’ll never do anything I want to do.” Was he concerned about her? That was new. No one really cared about her before.

“Just tell me how you’re planning on getting home.”

“I’ve already ordered a taxi as the tube will have stopped running by the time it finishes.”

“Good,” his shoulders relaxed a little, not by much but a little. The train pulled into his station. “Well enjoy yourself. Stay safe and see you tomorrow. Will I be seeing you tomorrow?”

It was a valid point. She nodded realising that she would have to operate tomorrow on three hours of sleep.

***

Rey left her place at eleven after having a three hour long nap. She was wearing a t-shirt she’d found at the comic book store with Wren and Kira mid lightsaber fight silhouetted on it. Not that anyone would see it as it was under her coat and jumper.

Even though it was late, there were still plenty of people around, either coming back from or going out on a night out. Rey kept her head down and walked quickly. It was pretty cold and she wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.

Rey had the whole carriage to herself for the fifteen minutes it took her to get to the tube station opposite the cinema. She tried to keep her excitement in check and ate some of the snacks she had brought with her but they were just making her tummy ache worse.

The cinema was already busy when she got there and she had to queue to redeem her ticket. As she was waiting she got talking to the two women in front of her, Lu and Em. They had met on a Space Wars fan site, had gotten along really well and had met for the very first time in person to watch the film.

Rey wondered if she should do that, join a fan site. It would be nice to have friends with the same interests as her, but her usual insecurities of being socially awkward and an introvert would inevitably get in the way.

Introducing herself to Ben was probably the bravest thing she had ever done.

Lu and Em were fervent believers in KiRen. To them the evidence was clear that there would be a romance between them. Rey just hoped they wouldn’t be too upset if there wasn’t. Heck, she hoped she wouldn’t be too upset.

They parted ways when they got up to the screen. It was the biggest screen and it was a sold out showing.

Rey found her seat at the end of her row, but decided to stay standing to allow other people to get to their seats.

The lights went down at midnight and the crowd cheered as the adverts started. Rey smiled widely in the dark. This was going to be such an amazing experience.

Rey didn’t think she stopped smiling throughout the whole film, even through the sad and dramatic parts. The crowd was fantastic and she found herself cheering along at some parts.

In the lobby she bumped into Lu and Em again.

“Hi. Did you enjoy the film?” she asked them both.

“Yes and I didn’t think I would when they revealed Kira had amnesia, it’s such a cliche, but I thought they used it really well to set up her redemption.” said Em.

“Yeah and I was dreading the sibling reveal but again it was really good and I’m saying that as someone who didn’t want to see it happen.” said Lu.

“At least they had an alternative romance.” said Rey.

“And it didn’t seem like it was out of nowhere. Although was Office Randolf in the first one?” asked Em.

“I think so. As one of the background characters.” Lu snapped her fingers remembering something. “He was the only officer Kira didn’t force push into a wall!”

“Oh gosh, that makes sense now!” Em said excitedly. “I only watched that film this afternoon but I need to watch it again and see if there’s any more subtle foreshadowing.”

“I haven’t watched the other films in ages,” Rey admitted. “I’ve been reading all the tie in novels.”

“Ooh, those are cool. Did you notice anything else?”

They carried on talking until Rey’s phone beeped to tell her her taxi was there. She waved goodbye to Lu and Em and hopped in the back of her taxi. She had enough time to get three hours of sleep when she got home before she had to go to work again, but she didn’t think she would be able to, she was just so happy.

***

Rey somehow managed to get through the whole day without falling asleep. It helped that it was the last day the offices would be open before the festive period so a fun afternoon had been planned with games and food and drinks.

Rey was too tired to do anything too boisterous, so she and Finn sat in one of the conference rooms playing board games. They both had a plate of food and a glass of fizz. Rey was currently wrapped up in a piece of tinsel as she had forgotten to wear anything festive and Rose insisted she take the tinsel.

“So how was the film?” asked Finn moving his pieces on the board.

“So, so good.” she said with a bright smile.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. You’ve been looking forward to it for so long.”

“I just wish I had someone to talk to about it.”

“Don’t tell me, I’m not seeing it until Sunday, but it will be spoilt for me anyway tonight as some of the kids are seeing it after school today.”

They played the game three times. Rey won the first, Finn the second and the tie break was won by Rey.

As it was the last day of work for the year, Amilyn Holdo gave a little speech thanking them for their hard work, wishing them well, then she let them go home early.

Rey wondered if she should hang around a bit and wait for Ben. She did want to see him as it sounded like he wanted to know that she was ok, but in the end, the tiredness won out and she headed home.

It was so much quieter than usual when she got down to the underground that she got a seat for once. There were a few spare actually.

She was just hoping that the rocking motion of the carriage wouldn’t send her to sleep, when the sight of someone jumping through the automatic doors just as they were closing disturbed her.

By some cosmic coincidence it was Ben and he barely looked flustered even though he had just jumped onto the train. He looked around him and their eyes met. Rey patted the empty seat next to her and she saw Ben swallow thickly as if he was nervous.

When he sat down she realised why he would prefer to stand up. He was a little too wide for the seat and their sides couldn’t help but touch, but Rey didn’t mind. She was used to being pushed up against people and there were worse people to be pushed up against than Ben.

“Did you get let out early too?” Rey asked.

“Yes.” Ben said repeating it a few times. “Did you enjoy your film?”

“Yes, it was so good.” she gave him a bright but tired smile.

“Do you want to see it again?”

“Definitely, though I’m going to have to hunt around for tickets, it’s pretty booked up.”

“Do you want to see it with me? I have a spare ticket.”

“You do? For when?”

“Tomorrow night at the Imax.”

“Seriously? Those tickets sold out ages ago. How did you -” she noticed his sly smile. “You had them all the time, didn't you? You do like Space Wars.”

“Not really. Do you want to come?”

“Of course I do, but,” she had to double check thanks to Finn and the porg event. “You’re not just inviting me along because you need help babysitting a five year old are you?”

“No, Hux can take Bertie. It’ll just be you and me.”

“OK,” she beamed and Ben smiled back. She was going to the cinema with Ben. It was almost like a date.


	5. January

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some really nice comments of the last chapter and I've been sat here all week thinking "They're not going to like the next chapter". So I'm just going to leave this here and see you at the end.

It had been a miserable day back at work after the Christmas holidays for Rey. It had rained all day and the cheery decorations that had adorned the Resistance offices had all been taken down and put away for another year making the place seem very empty. Some people had decided to take an extra day off to recover from New Year’s, such as Jess, so Rey was left covering for her. Not that anyone else was bothered about doing any work. They were too busy catching up with each other, talking about how their time off went. Rey wasn’t interested in listening to anyone else’s stories or talking about her time off. It had all started off so well with her trip to the cinema with Ben and then things had gone so, so wrong. So she spent the whole day being antisocial with her headphones in, the look on her face keeping everyone away, even Rose.

And now she was on the tube trying her very best to ignore Ben. It was his fault she was in this mood and she didn’t think she could remain calm if he tried to talk to her. She’d considered getting on a different carriage or a different train to avoid him, but old habits die hard.

Instead, when she'd spotted him, she had ducked behind another commuter and he had yet to spot her even though he was looking for her.

Her luck ran out when the person she had been hiding behind got off leaving her exposed. He spotted her before she had the chance to hide behind someone else.

She pretended to be engrossed in the new fan fiction on her phone to notice he was making his way through the carriage to her. In the wake of the new film KiRen had fallen by the wayside, replaced by so many new stories featuring Kira and Officer Randolph. Rey had to admit she did prefer them, no incest.

Ben seemed quite happy to see her. That was until he realised the feeling wasn’t mutual.

“What’s wrong?” he asked instinctively.

“Nothing.” she said sullenly. “I just don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“What did I do?” Ben said defensively. “Is it because I didn’t call or text you after we went to the cinema? If so that was because -”

“You don’t have to say if Ben.” she said spitting out his name. “I know you were too busy enjoying yourself to call a nobody like me.”

  
  
“What are you talking about?” he was genuinely confused. Rey could almost laugh.

“I suppose it’s rather fitting that the son of Han Solo should go out with the daughter of Lone Star.”

“How do you know about that?” Ben was shocked by what she had said. Either because she had found out who his father was or that he was seeing someone or both.

During her days off, Rey had spent plenty of time searching the internet for anything to do with Space Wars, which naturally lead to Lady Kira’s actress, Maisie Ripley. Which lead her to a photo taken outside a well known fancy restaurant in Coruscant taken just after Christmas of Maisie leaving with a man, after what was reported to be a cosy lunch for two. The report had claimed that the man was Ben Solo, son of Han Solo, her favourite actor. At first she didn’t believe that this Ben was the same as her Ben, but the resemblance was undeniable. Their coats were the same, their hair was the same, even the way they sloped their shoulders was the same.

When Rey saw those pictures her chest felt tight and she was left feeling very hurt. It was a combination of him obviously hating his parents, people she admired, and keeping that information from her, and seeing him with another woman. Someone who was smart and beautiful and awesome, an up and coming actor, not plain boring Rey.

It probably wouldn’t have hurt so much if she hadn’t had the feeling their trip to the cinema was meant to be a date, even though he didn’t explicitly say that it was.

“No it wasn’t like that. Let me explain.” Ben said slightly panicked.

“Don’t bother. It’s your stop.”

“No I need to clear this up.”

“Just get off before we start causing a scene.” Rey was pretty sure they were doing that already and that the people around her were ignoring her harsh tone. Her knuckles had turned white where she was gripping the pole in an effort not to start shouting.

Ben stepped off the train defeated, and looked back at her sadly through the dirty window of the carriage, but she didn’t feel like sparing him a glance. All the while she had failed to notice that he was carrying a gift bag.

***

“What up party people.” Jess exclaimed as she strolled into the office the next day, much too cheerful and loud for the rest of them. Rey thought she looked very glamorous with her long black hair looking particularly sleek and shiny, a new designer handbag and coat and wearing large sunglasses that didn’t suit the weather.

The guys mumbled and grunted in response, Jess didn’t let that spoil her mood, that is if she even noticed.

“Well I had a fabulous time at my New Year’s Eve party. I have so much to tell.”

  
  
“Oh, I’ve just remembered that I need to go to payroll to discuss...taxes.” Snap said hurriedly as Jess was taking her coat off and rushed out of the room.

“Yes I must also go discuss taxes.” Finn said robotically and ran after Snap. It took Rey too long to cotton on to what they were doing and by the time she did, Jess had finished settling herself in and she was trapped.

“Have they gone? Oh well now we can discuss all the girly stuff in peace.” Rey forced herself to smile as Jess pulled up a chair next to her.

Not that there was much discussion, Jess just kept talking and talking.

“Oh it was beautiful, right on the waterfront. And you know when they set off all the fireworks? We were right there, it was amazing.”

“I fell asleep before then.” Rey mumbled but Jess wasn’t listening, she was searching through the photo gallery on her phone.

“I did see something you would like, or more specifically someone.”

  
  
“No Jess. I’m not interested in being set up or anything.”

“It’s not like that. Look in the background.” Jess held her phone up to her. The main focus of the picture was a badly lit drunk selfie, but there in the background was the unmistakable profile of Han Solo.

At any other time Rey would be excited by this but right now it brought up other strange feelings, but Jess thought she would like it so she had to act that way.

“That’s cool. Did you go and talk to him?”

“God no. He’s so old.”

Well at least that part of the conversation is over, thought Rey.

Jess continued to scroll through the photos on her phone pointing out people who Rey didn’t recognise but were apparently famous.

“Wait, go back one.” One of the pictures had caught her eye.

“Him? He was a weird one. I would almost call him handsome if he wasn’t so grumpy.”

The picture was of Ben Solo sandwiched between Jess and another equally intoxicated friend, looking like he would rather be anywhere else but there.

Rey was surprised that he would be at a party like that, though she shouldn’t really as he was rich and his father was there after all. Not that she cared of course.

“Thomas said that he hadn’t been to the New Year’s party in years but that he hadn’t changed. They used to call him the grumpy dark lord, and the name still applies.” Jess continued.

“Who’s Thomas?” Rey asked wanting to get away from the subject of Ben Solo.

“That guy there.” she pointed to the third person in the picture. “He’s from a super wealthy family. His father’s one of the best prosecutors in the country, and I haven’t told you the best part. I’ve spent the best part of the past two days with him between my thighs.”

  
  
Jess looked at Rey like she wanted to be congratulated, but Rey didn’t know what she was supposed to say.

“That’s great. Is he your boyfriend now?”

“God, no. It was a one night thing. Or in this case, a two night thing.”

Rey definitely didn’t know what to say to that. She was well aware that it was something that a lot of people did, but she couldn’t understand how people could be so casual about sleeping with someone they just met and then move on as if it meant nothing.

***

The next day Rey got off the tube on her way to work to find that Ben was sat on one of the small metal benches waiting for her to appear in the crowd.

It had been a couple of days since she had last seen him. Her mood hadn’t improved and he still looked sad and he was looking less put together than usual. His black hair was less shiny and voluminous and he looked like he hadn’t shaved.

Rey tried to just blend in with the crowd and follow the flow of foot traffic, but Ben had been waiting for her and he moved easily through them to her side.

“Rey, please just talk to me. Let me explain.”

“No. Leave me alone. I need to get to work.”

“I tried calling you, but it wouldn’t connect.”

“That’s because I blocked you. You’re not who I thought you were.”

“I don’t want to just be known as my father’s son. I want to make my own way.”

“And you’re doing just fine at that. I looked you up on the First Order Financial website, you’re not just some lowly accountant, you’re pretty much the second in command of the whole company.” she glared at him as they got stopped momentarily by the bottleneck at the ticket barrier.

“I admit that I withheld some of the truth but I have my reasons, but if you just let me explain,”

“No Ben. I’ve lost my good opinion of you. You’ve joined the long list of people who have lied to me and let me down.” she met his sorrowful dark eyes with her own hard hazel ones. She noticed his lips quiver.

“Goodbye Ben,” she said leaving him standing alone in the middle of the ticket hall.

Rey kept telling herself that she was strong, to keep her head held high and that she was doing the right thing, but it didn’t stop her heart hurting or the lump in her throat or the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

***

For the next week, Rey saw no sign of Ben during her morning or evening commute. Not that she wanted to see him.

Good, she thought. He’s got the hint and is leaving me completely alone.

The thought should have made her happy but it didn’t for the fact that she was alone. The sad truth was that after being in Coruscant for over four months now, Ben was the only friend she’d made outside of work.

He had been an integral part of her commute the whole time she had been working, even when she only used to catch glimpses of him and only knew him as the very tall man dressed in black, that it was quite difficult for her to get used to the journey without him there. True they didn’t always get on the same train but she had always looked forward to the next time they would meet. But she supposed she would just have to forget about that now and figure out how she was going to move on.

Rey looked around at the blank distracted faces of the passengers around her and wondered if she should strike up a conversation with one of them. But looking at them she knew that wasn’t an option. Without probably meaning to, these people looked unfriendly and wouldn’t appreciate someone breaking the golden rule of tube travel, even to humour or tease her.

Plus the fact that she was travelling the same journey at practically the same time every day, the same as hundreds, if not thousands, of other people did everyday, she didn’t recognise anyone. How could you become friends with someone you’d met once? That was probably just as bad as not making any friends at all.

What had drawn her to Ben Solo in the first place? What made him stand out from the crowd and compel her to talk to him?

Rey thought about getting to know the people at work better, but each of those had drawbacks. Snap was getting married soon and they spent all their free time doing couples activities or wedding planning. Jess would spend her free time sampling the newest and most fashionable restaurants, bars and clubs in the hopes of meeting someone famous and boosting her social media presents, not Rey’s thing at all. And Rose spent her weekends alternating between going to see her parents and sister and had barely any time for herself, let alone anyone else.

She’d even asked Finn if Mason needed a babysitter, since the kid apparently liked her, but with a plethora of aunts, uncles, grandparents and older cousins, there was no need.

“Besides, I wouldn’t want to take you anywhere near my house.” Finn said.

“Why not?" Was there something wrong with her? She had long suspected there was.

“It’s just the last girl I took home, I was seventeen and my parents started planning the wedding.” Rey would have laughed if Finn didn’t look so serious.

“But I’m not your girlfriend, just a friend who is a girl remember.” she reasoned.

“Try telling my mother that. I’m the last of her babies to get married and she’s desperate.”

“But you’re only twenty two!”

“Yes but most of my siblings and cousins had kids by my age.”  
  


Families are weird, Rey thought. As much as she wished she had a family, she was glad she didn’t have to deal with stuff like that.

So at the end of the day, Rey finished up her work, said goodbye to the people there, crammed herself in a small spot on the tube and walked home in the dark where Porgi was waiting for her. He would always be waiting for her.

She had kind of given up cooking, so she had her microwaveable ready meal, ate it, put on her pyjamas and curled up in bed.

***

Rey was also upset that her enjoyment of Space Wars had been marred by Ben Solo. She had amassed quite a collection of different Space Wars books and comics. She had read quite a lot of them but there were still some she hadn’t got round to and now she didn’t know whether she wanted to. She would keep them though, they made her shelf look good.

Even her enthusiasm for fan fiction had reduced. Especially after she found a story where Kira and Randolph kept running into each other on their morning commuter train.

But she still found herself scrolling through different news articles and videos of various pieces of analysis and theories as to what could happen next.

Inevitably that lead onto what the different actors were up to with both official reports and paparazzi photos. Apparently Tom Alexander was going to be in a play at one of the theatres in Coruscant’s theatre district. Rey thought that could be interesting to see. The problem was that she didn’t have anyone to go with and she didn’t want to go on her own.

Rey had been ignoring anything to do with Maisie Ripley. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, Ben brought her down in her estimation.

However the day before had been the gala dinner for the Coruscant Film Awards held before the actual ceremony that would be held on Sunday. Many actors from Space Wars were in attendance to support Tom Alexander who had been nominated for his role in a political drama that Rey really needed to get around to seeing. He was walking the red carpet with his wife and they looked like a really happy couple.

Rey was going to skip over the picture of Maisie, who was looking very glamorous in a floaty green halter neck dress with her hair in a top knot, if it weren’t for the man standing next to her. They were linking arms and he was smiling at her lovingly. Then there was the caption.

The man was John Crawley, an actor that Rey vaguely recognised from a period drama or two and a murder mystery film that also stared Maisie, which was also a film she needed to get around to seeing, and the caption of the photo named him as her boyfriend.

Boyfriend? Rey found that strange. It had only been a couple of weeks since she was pictured leaving lunch with Ben and yet it appeared that they had broken up and she had moved on pretty quickly.

That couldn’t be right could it or was there something else going on? Could she have been wrong in her assumptions?

***

“Hey Rey. Can I see you for a sec?” Poe had come into their office just as they were all going to lunch. After her diet in the run up to the new year, Jess seemed to be making up for lost meals and had been going out every lunchtime so far this month and getting meals that Snap and Finn were surprised she could put away.

“Yeah, sure,” She wasn’t particularly worried about whatever Poe wanted to speak to her about. Unlike last time she had been eating properly, for the most part, and after the first couple of days had put on a cheerful facade at work so no one would notice something was wrong.

“Holdo wants to see you.” he said when they were alone.

“What, why?” Rey hadn’t expected that.

“She didn’t tell me why, but she did say that you weren’t in any trouble so you shouldn’t worry.” Saying that made her worry more. She could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest as Poe walked her to Holdo’s office.

Rey had only been to her office once before, back in September as part of the welcome event, and had only spoken to her a handful of times.

Poe left her with Holdo’s secretary and she was soon admitted to the main office.

“Ah Rey. Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. I know you’d probably prefer to be out at lunch but I figured what I had to talk to you about couldn’t wait until the end of the day.” Even though Rey didn’t know her very well, she did like Holdo. Her calm nature was very reassuring and she especially liked how her purple turtleneck jumper matched her hair.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Rey asked.

“It’s more of a personal matter. I believe you are acquainted with my nephew, Ben Solo.” Holdo leaned forward and rested her arms on the desk in front of her.

“Your nephew?”

“Yes, well honorary nephew anyway. He still calls me Auntie Ami.” Holdo turned one of the framed photos on her desk around to show a picture of a younger version of herself and Princess Leia holding a toddler with a mop of messy black hair, happily reaching up towards Holdo’s hair that was bright blue at the time. That must have been baby Ben. How cute he had been.

“But you probably put that together by now.” Holdo added.

“Actually it never dawned on me.” Rey had been too busy focusing on Han Solo that she had nearly forgotten he’d married a literal princess. Did that mean Ben was a prince?

“Never mind. I’ve known Leia since we were sixteen, long before the tragedy that befell her family. I went with her when she eloped with Han and I was one of the first to visit Ben in the hospital when he was born. She helped me set up this company.” Holdo stopped herself before she spent too long reminiscing. “But anyway, the reason I called you here is because Ben came to visit me and told me a little of what has been going on.”

  
  
Rey slouched back in her chair and looked at her hands in her lap.

“Now obviously it’s none of my business, but I promised him I would give you these.” Holdo placed a rather crumpled looking, sparkly black gift bag and a thick envelope with her name on it on the desk in front of her.

“What is it?” Rey asked.

“I don’t know, but if I was to hazard a guess, I’d say it was supposed to be your Christmas present.”

  
  
He had bought her a present? Rey felt slightly ashamed. He cared enough to get her a present when he himself said that she didn’t have to get him anything when they were at the cinema, and she hadn’t been planning on getting him anything even before she found out the truth.

“So take them or leave them, it’s up to you, but I would at least let him explain himself before making any final judgement.” she looked at her sympathetically.

Rey looked at the gift bag and the envelope. She was curious to know what they contained even though she did just want to forget about this whole thing. Although Holdo was right and Rey knew from experience it was better to have closure and things had ended messily with Ben. Maybe she should hear him out, give them a clean break.

***

Rey managed to resist the urge to open the presents or the envelope until she got home. She set them down on her bed while she put her ready meal in the microwave, then sat back against the pillows to see what was in the envelope.

Inside were several sheets of paper covered top to bottom, front and back in the neatest handwriting she had ever seen.

_ Dear Rey, _

_ As you have pointed out, I have not been entirely honest about who I am. You have not allowed me to explain myself in person, but I hope you will at least read this letter. It may not charge your opinion of me, but at least you will know the truth. _

Rey took a deep breath to push away the part of her who wanted to burn the letter. She had decided it would be easier to hear Ben out if he wasn’t stood next to her.

_ I was born Benjamin Organa Skywalker Solo, the only heir to four family fortunes and legacies complete with expectations and standards I had to live up to. _

_ My grandparents were long gone by the time I was born and my parents, that you and so many love and admire, were not around much when I was growing up. While they were off on various movie sets or on ambassadorial duties I was left at home with my nanny and the other household staff. As a small child I would sit by the front door for one of them to come home. They never did and I often fell asleep on the stairs waiting for them. _

_ Then I got sent away to school. At first I thought I could get them to notice me if I got the best grades and report cards, join the drama club and debate team. But at the end of each term someone else would be sent to collect me and of all the plays I did at school, my parents only came to one, all attention drawn from those of us on the stage, who had done all the hard work, to them. _

The timer on the microwave went off, but Rey hardly noticed it.

_ When being good didn’t get their attention, I started acting out. Nothing too serious, I kept my grades up, but every time I got sent to the Principal's Office and a letter was sent home, money for new facilities appeared and the whole thing would be forgotten. Instead of trying to solve the problem they just throw money at it and hoped it would go away. _

_ Maybe that’s not entirely true as from then on I was sent to spend my school holidays with my Uncle Luke, the head of the Jedi Religious Order. He lives a very simple and basic lifestyle and the thought was that living in an environment without modern conveniences where I would work and mediate and study the Jedi teachings would help focus my mind. _

_ In some ways it did but I still couldn’t let go of my resentment towards my parents and eventually Uncle Luke gave up on me as well. _

Rey could practically feel the teenage angst dripping from the page, but she couldn’t say that she didn’t relate to some of it.

_ When I left school, I returned to Alderaan and joined the army as part of my National Service. I got on well there. I made friends, got to travel and it gave me an outlet for my more negative emotions. I stayed on past my required time, I fully intended to have a career in the army. Deep down I was hoping that my mother would finally be proud of me because I was serving the country she loved so much. _

_ But it wasn’t to be as I was involved in a road accident and broke my shoulder badly so I got a medical discharge. I was pretty upset about that as I had no idea what I was going to do. _

_ Though for the first time my parents came to the hospital when they heard of my accident. Whenever I had fallen and scraped my knee as a child, it was my nanny or the butler who would pick me up and comfort me. I was glad they had come but I didn’t know how to show it. Then the resentment returned when my father asked my mother why she was making such a fuss, that it was just a road accident, not like I had been on active duty. _

_ Now that I was older, my father didn’t seem to be doing as many movies and my mother didn’t seem to be going off as much either and they were trying to spend time with me. I tried to get out of it as much as I could. Why should I spend time with them now that they wanted to when they wouldn’t spend time with me when I needed them as a child? _

Rey held Porgi tight as she was reading. As much as she envied Ben for having parents, she couldn’t help but think, were absent parents really better than dead ones?

_ Amilyn Holdo offered me a job at Resistance but I turned her down, she is too close to my mother and it wouldn’t have worked out. It was then that I met Andrew Snoke, CEO of First Order Financial. He understood me and I gladly accepted his offer to train me. _

_ That was six years ago and I’m doing pretty well for myself. I own a very nice apartment, I spend most weekends with my Godchildren, I begrudgingly see my parents every so often, but I was alone and lonely. That was until a pretty girl on the tube with a strange hairstyle insisted on talking to me. _

Wait, Rey sat up at that, he thinks I’m pretty? She’d give him the strange hairstyle, her three buns weren’t exactly popular, but still he thought she was pretty.

_ That was a brief summary as to why I don’t love my parents the way other people do. They were absent and are much better at their jobs than they are at being parents and I’m the one who’s suffered for it. _

Rey put the paper down for a moment and stared at the ceiling. She could understand where Ben was coming from more now, but she had another page to read yet.

_ The other think I know you’re upset about is the photos of me and Maisie Ripley and what the reporter implied. Let me assure you that they were completely wrong. _

_ I knew you were a big fan of Lady Kira so I thought I’d ask my Dad to arrange a meeting so I could get her to sign something for you. He said he would as long as I spent Christmas with them. Obviously I had to agree but I should have known from the look in his eye that he was up to something. _

_ He arranged the meeting for just after Christmas and instead of a quick; ‘Hello. Can you sign this for my friend? Thank you. Bye.’ in the restaurant bar while my Dad had his usual barely the afternoon drink, we were led to a table for two where Maisie was already waiting. Dad then winked and promptly left. _

_ Maisie was rather apologetic. Apparently my Dad had been talking me up to her for quite a while and he thought he was setting us up on a date. She was all prepared to let me down gently, saying she already had a boyfriend and that they wanted to keep things private, and the only reason she had agreed to come out was because she couldn’t say no to Han Solo. _

_ I was ready to kill him when I got home, but I refrained, and I explained that I wasn’t interested in her either. The only reason we stayed was because Dad had prepaid for the meal and we were both hungry. _

Now that she was in a different mind set, that story was pretty funny.

_ I hope you have taken the time to read this account of what happened. If you still wish to break off our friendship, I don’t blame you, just know that for the past four months, you have been the brightest part of my life. _

_ Yours Faithfully _

_ Ben _

Rey finished reading the letter and hugged Porgi feeling ashamed. It sounded like Ben really liked her and her stupid self her ruined it because she felt hurt by things she didn’t understand and things that had been misreported.

That must have meant their trip to the cinema was a date. Why hadn’t she seen it? Why was she so bad at recognising emotions.

She looked across her bed to where she had left the crumpled gift bag. Opening it she saw that Ben had gotten Maisie Ripley to sign the poster they had got for free at the Imax. She had her own pristine copy on her shelf but this one was so much better despite having been crumpled alongside the bag.

The other thing inside the bag was wrapped in Porg Island wrapping paper, no doubt the same as what Ben had wrapped his Godchildren’s presents in which he knew she would appreciate as well.

Inside were three Texas Jack books including the one she had but in much better condition. Rey was impressed that he had got these for her as she had barely mentioned how much she loved Han Solo’s other break through film series.

Opening the front covers she saw that Han Solo had actually signed them all and they were personalised. She could see where an a had been changed to an e, she was very familiar with seeing this correction.

Rey loved her presents and held the books to her chest and let out an excited high pitched squeal. Then her excitement was replaced by guilt.

Ben had wanted to give her these presents and see her excited and happy, instead she had shunned him. She didn’t deserve them, she didn’t deserve Ben.

Rey signed. She probably wouldn’t be able to make this right, but she had to try. Ben had shared his life story with her, the least she could do was to tell him hers, at least that way they would be even.

So Rey riffled through the pile of stuff on her desk for a notebook she could rip the pages out of and a pen, and spent the next couple of hours writing.

About how baby Rey’s parents had been drunk drivers and had gotten themselves killed.

About how she had no other family so had been put into care in Jakku.

About how no one wanted to adopt her.

About how she hadn’t found out the truth about her parents until she was twelve and how up until that point she had believed they were coming back for her.

About how she was bullied by the children at school and at the care home.

About how badly she wanted to leave Jakku and how hard she had worked at school and university to get the opportunity to move to Coruscant.

About how she was tired of feeling lonely surrounded by people so had reached out to the very tall man dressed in black on the tube that she was inexplicably drawn to.

And about how she thought she had ruined the connection they had.

***

If it weren’t for the fact that she needed to scrounge around the Resistance offices for an envelope, Rey would have gone straight to the offices of First Order Financial to give Ben her letter. But because of that she ended up going there at lunchtime.

At first she thought Finn’s description of the company was an over exaggeration born of his traumatic interview experience, but now she was stood there herself she had to agree.

The reception area was done out in black and white with chrome accents that were polished to a high shine. It looked very professional but not very inviting.

There were quite a few people walking in and out of the building because it was lunchtime. All the men were wearing black suits with the type of shiny black shoes that clicked when they walked and all the women seemed to be wearing very high heels and had their hair severely pulling back from their faces.

As they walked passed her they stopped whatever else they were doing to stare at her, making her feel more out of place even though she was only planning on being there for a couple of minutes. Rey saw the security guard eyeing her from his perch in the corner and she decided she should probably get a move on.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist sneered at her as she looked her up and down. Rey ignored her and put on a fake smile.

“Yes. Can you get this letter to Ben Solo please?” she held out the letter and the receptionist looked at her like she was handing her a wet sock.

“I can’t take that.”

“Why not? It’s just a letter.”

“It hasn’t been through the proper checks. Could be anything.”

“Well it’s not. If you won’t take it, could you call Ben to come down and pick it up?”

“Nice try,” A nasty smirk spend across the receptionists face. “We’ve had desperate fame whore in here before. Do you have no shame bothering a man at work?”

“What? No that’s not -” but it was useless as she saw the receptionist signal the very large security guard. Shit! She thought. She had to think of something fast.

Quickly scanning the room she saw a flash of red hair that she was very pleased to see.

“Hux! Mr Hux!” she called dashing away from the desk hoping there wasn’t another ginger haired man at First Order Financial she was mistaking him for.

He turned and looked at her like he was trying to place her. “Do I know you?”

“Yes. I mean no. Maybe I don’t know if Ben has mentioned me but I’m Rey.” She was fully aware that the security guard was looming up behind her. “I know who you are, sort of, Ben’s Godfather to you children.”

  
  
“You were at that silly porg thing at the zoo, weren't you?” Rey nodded. “It’s ok Gregor, I can sort this out.”

The security guard grunted in response as Hux waved him away and he went back to his perch.

“So what brings you here?”

“I was trying to get this letter to Ben, but your receptionist is being very unhelpful.” She turned to see the other woman glaring daggers at her, which she returned. “Could you give it to him?”

“Of course,” She smiled in relief and gave him the letter. Then she left before she was set on by security again.

***

Rey sat in the coffee shop outside the tube station fiddling with her cup. She had included an invitation to Ben as part of her apology letter and she was waiting to see if he would show up. If he didn’t then she knew she had ruined everything and if he did, well.

She was trying not to just stare at the door knowing that this would just make time go slower and her anxiety worse, but she couldn’t help it.

Finally, after what felt like forever but was probably only ten minutes she spotted him. Ben didn’t look as run down as the last time she had seen him, it looked like he had quickly put a bit of effort into his looks, but he didn’t look as put together as he used to. He had let his facial hair grow and his coat was left open showing her that he was wearing the red tie she had bought him, although it looked like he had spilt something on it at some point.

They nervously smiled at each other when he spotted her and he made his way over.

“Hi,” he said quietly almost shyly.

“Hi,” she replied in much the same way. Then she sat up straight and said more confidently, “Hi. My name is Rachel Bennet but everyone calls me Rey. I’m a poor orphan from Jakku who has a tendency to jump to conclusions.”

She offered him her hand. Ben’s smile grew as he took it.

“Ben Solo. Yes there is a relation but I prefer to get by on my own merits.” He sat down on the spare stool at the table.

“Can we be friends again? I missed you.” she said.

“Of course we can.” He laid his hand on top of hers on the table and it felt nice and natural.

“Sorry I overreacted and wouldn’t let you talk so we could have sorted this out sooner.” Rey said regretfully.

“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s just that I wanted you to get to know me for me because I know you love my Dad so much.”

“Well now we know we have to communicate better.” she said hopefully and Ben gave her hand a little squeeze but didn’t remove it. “So I have been nowhere, know no one and haven’t done anything that I didn’t put in my letter. You got anything else to tell me?”

“I helped create Porg Island.” Ben said with a very serious look on his face.

“You what?” Rey cried, apart from that she was speechless.

“I helped create Porg Island.” he repeated looking like he enjoyed her shocked expression. “A couple of years ago I was talking to Charles Bacca, my Uncle Chewie, about how he wanted to do something to get children interested in conservation and I suggested a TV show and we kind of just went from there.

The main porg family is based off my friend Hux’s family, because you know, the male porgs have orange feathers. He wasn’t too happy about it at first, but the kids love it and I can give them all the free merchandise they want.”

“I thought you said you didn’t do cute? When I asked you about it you acted like you didn’t like the show.”

“Well I do have a brooding image to maintain.”

“Wait, you are like Kylo the sea serpent. I was right.” Rey said excitedly. “Did you write yourself into the show?”

“Of course. I’ve got to make a few children and a pretty girl with strange hair think I’m cool.”

Rey felt herself blush furiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking up for Rey and Ben for here on in.


	6. February

The last couple of weeks had been good for Rey since her and Ben had made up. They had started meeting up for lunch a couple of times a week. Ben had even invited her to go to an exhibition with him at one of the many museums in Coruscant, luckily there were less children there than last time.

Rey didn’t know whether it was the natural progression of things or whether it was the fact that every shop was gearing up for Valentine’s Day, but she felt like there might be a change in their relationship coming up. She just didn’t know how to bring it up or whether Ben felt the same way. But for now she was more than happy for things to carry on as they were.

The people at work had really noticed her mood change and were glad they could approach her again. Instead they now had to be careful around Jess who had been having some quite dramatic mood swings lately.

Finn and Rose were now in a state of smug satisfaction that they had called her out on her train crush months ago especially when she ditched them at lunchtime in favour of meeting up with Ben, but she let them have it. Maybe she did have a crush. Maybe always did.

She hadn’t told them anything about who his family was, it didn’t seem like that was her story to tell, but she’d told them about all the funny things that happened on the tube and their trips together.

Rose said it was cute, but that they should just make it official already.

In their office Rey’s joyous mood was contrasted by Jess’ sour one with Snap and Finn caught in the middle not knowing how to handle it, like so many men when it came to women’s emotions.

They had had a few days of respite as Jess had been off with a stomach bug some other people at work had had. It was her first day back but she still didn’t look very well. Her long black hair was in a very messy bun, her skin was pale and pasty, and she had bundled herself up in an oversized chunky cardigan, a far cry from the chic and stylish outfits she usually wore.

They had tried to get her to eat something but all she could manage was one bite that it looked like she was having a hard time keeping down. At least she was drinking water, they all were, as she had hissed at them when they had tried to bring coffee into the office.

Jess had been angrily punching the keys on her keyboard all morning and the others had just been trying to ignore it so they could get on with their own work.

At some point Rey realised that the noise had stopped. She looked over at Jess who was looking decidedly greener. Before she could ask if she was alright, Jess ran from the room, if a little unsteadily, with her hand over her mouth. The others also looked up at the commotion.

“I don’t think she should have come back to work today.” said Finn, stating the obvious.

“You should go check on her Rey.” Snap suggested.

“What? Why me?” Rey really didn’t want to have to deal with anyone being sick.

“Well because you’re the only other girl and she probably, hopefully, made it to the bathroom.”

Rey sighed. She couldn’t really argue with his logic. “Fine.” She got up and reluctantly went after Jess. She wasn’t going to let this ruin her mood.

Jess was the only one in the ladies toilets which was lucky for her as it gave her somewhere to dry heave, there couldn’t have been much in her stomach for her to throw up, in private.

“Jess?” Rey called out when the retching noises had stopped. It took all her self control not to gag at the thought.

“Rey?” Jess’ voice was hoarse and Rey could also hear that she was crying.

“I came to check on you.” she walked over to the last cubical where Jess was. “I think you should go home. It looks like you’ve still got that stomach bug.

“I don’t have a stomach bug. I think I’m pregnant.” Jess’ voice was overtaken by violent sobs.

“Oh,” Rey said quietly. She had never known how to act when given news like this. Most people would be overjoyed and she would have to match that, but Jess seemed really upset.

“You said you think. Have you done a test to find out?”

“No.” she said between sniffs and sobs. “I’ve been to scared to find out, but I’m a week late and I’ve been throwing up all week.”

“Ok, why don’t I go and buy a test and then we can find out?” Rey said calmly.

“Ok. I’m going to stay here, I don’t think I can face anyone like this.”

Rey went back to the office to grab her bag, it was practically lunchtime, no one would really care if she went ten minutes early. She told Finn and Snap she would explain later.

She went down the road to the pharmacy that sold everything and began wandering down the aisles trying to find the pregnancy tests.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It felt like she was doing something wrong, something shameful, even though the test wasn’t for her and there was no way she could be pregnant, which wasn’t what the experience should be.

Once she found them, the next challenge was to decide which one to get. Rey couldn’t believe how many different brands there were and the different price points. Why did it matter what brand you got when they all said they were ninety nine percent accurate and in the end it was just a stick that you peed on that ultimately got thrown away?

Sod it, Rey thought. Jess could have the cheapest one and she could get her own if she didn’t like it.

Rey joined the queue for the self service checkout and contemplated buying something else so as to cover up what she was really buying but decided against it.

“Yes Gwen. I’ve got them. Yes Gwen they’re the ones with the monkey on.” Rey could hear the guy behind her having a conversation on his phone and he sounded familiar.

She turned around to see Hux stood behind her with what appeared to be several packs of dummies. He nodded in recognition when he noticed her but he had to finish his phone call.

“I just don’t see why we keep buying them for him when I’m sure he enjoys hiding them. Surely he’s getting too old for them now.” A high pitched noise could be heard from the other end of the line that made him wince. “Ok you obviously know best.” Another angry sound came from the other end. “I love you too.” He hung up. Hux shook his head and sighed to get over the conversation with his wife.

“Hi,” he said to her.

“Hi,” she said back. She hoped it would stay at that as she didn’t know what to say to him as they had only met a couple of times by bumping into each other.

“I see things are going better than what Ben has alluded to.” he smiled, which was a bit off putting.

At first Rey didn’t know what he was on about. Then she realised he had seen what she was buying. Damn it! Why hadn’t she picked up a magazine or something.

Her first though was: Rude! Her second was to defend herself.

“It’s not for me. I’m not. We haven’t.” she was struggling to form a sentence. “Would you really discuss that?”

Hux shrugged. “Probably not. Ben never was one to shag and tell. Not that he’s had a girlfriend in a while.” 

“I’m not his girlfriend.” Rey was a little disgusted by the other things he’d said as well.

“Aren’t you?” he looked a little confused.

Rey quickly scanned and paid and left without saying goodbye as she needed to get back to Jess.

The ladies toilets were still empty apart from Jess when she got back and she slipped the box under the cubicle door.

Rey could tell Jess was still crying just not as loudly though, and she tried not to think of how awkward it was that she was stood outside a toilet stall waiting for someone to take a pregnancy test.

When Jess opened the door Rey could see that Jess had left the test on top of the cistern while the test developed and offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“What if it’s positive?” Jess asked in a small voice.

“Then you’re going to have a baby.” Rey didn’t see the point in sugar coating it. “I take it that it’s this Thomas guy’s baby.”

Jess nodded. “What am I going to do? I can’t have a baby, I’m only twenty four. It was only meant to be a one time thing, now I’m going to be stuck with a reminder forever.” She practically collapsed against Rey crying again.

Rey moved slowly so she didn’t disturb Jess and so that she could see the test result.

It was positive. Jess was sent home in hysterics.

***

Most of the food outlets around where they worked were designed for take away orders only. It allowed people to run in, grab their lunch and go back to their offices. It also meant that companies saved money by renting smaller shops and not paying for staff to clear tables.

Rey and Ben were rotating their way through the nearby establishments that had seating and lunch for a reasonable price.

It had been a couple of days since Jess had found out she was pregnant and she hadn’t returned to work yet. Rey hoped she was alright and hadn’t done anything she might regret.

She had been forced to tell Ben what was going on when he told her that Hux had told him that he had seen her buying a pregnancy test. He seemed surprised when she told him who the father was.

“Thanisson? Didn’t think he’d have it in him.”

Today Rey wanted to know the answer to something that she had been left to think about for some months now and she thought they were now in a position to talk about it.

“Do you remember ages ago when I asked you what your favourite film was and you said you’d share your opinions about Space Wars way, way, way down the road?”

Ben lowered his drink that he was about to take a sip of. “Yeees.”

“Do you think we’re at that point now? I’m not as hyped up by the whole thing anymore. I can be calm and we can have a grown up discussion.” she said sweetly.

“I mean, you can pretty much gather what I’m going to say because it’s pretty much what I wrote about in my letter.” he said but he wasn’t looking at her, instead he was looking down at the plastic fork he was fiddling with. “But when I got sent away to school and all the other boys found out my dad was Han Solo, they thought it was so cool. From their point of view it was because he got to be a space pirate, adventurer, the President, secret agent, all things that little boys want to be, but because he was all those things and more, he wasn’t there to be my dad.”

He sighed and looked her in the eye. “I just wanted him to be my dad. My opinion of him has affected my opinion of his films. My feelings towards Space Wars are the most negative because that was his big break. If he hadn’t have been in it, then he might have been around more.”

“That was very eloquent.” Rey said. At some point she had linked fingers with him to stop him playing with the fork. 

“Well I’ve been to so many therapy sessions that I can at least vocalise the issue without getting angry or breaking down now.”

He smiled but it was a sad smile and Rey decided it was time to change the subject.

“When I asked you that question you were being super annoying and said your favourite film was ‘The’.”

“Yeah,” Ben laughed, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. “It was fun winding you up.”

“Uh huh,” she did her best to look unimpressed. “Anyway now that I know you can speak in complete sentences, what is your favourite film?”

“It’s The Byronic Hero.”

“I’ve never seen that, but isn’t it meant to be a girly film?”

“Not really. It’s about love, yes, but it’s more about human nature and exploring what makes a monster and what makes a man that makes it interesting. I’ll show it to you some time.”

“I’d like that.”

***

On Monday night, three days before Valentine’s Day, Rey and Ben stood in their usual spot on the platform waiting for the train to take them home.

They were both stood in silence staring at one of the giant advertisements that lined the opposite wall. This one was for a flower delivery service’s Valentine’s Day promotion; free wine when you spend twenty five pounds or more on flowers.

Rey had always found Valentine’s Day odd. Surely if you loved someone you’d show them all the time not just on one particular day. She thought the grand gestures, such as the one being advertised in front of them, were a bit over the top. At the same time she really wanted one.

She sent a sideways glance at Ben as the train emerged from the tunnel and pulled up at the platform, obscuring the advert. He gave her a bashful look before turning away to concentrate on getting on the train, leaving Rey to wonder if he was thinking about the advert too.

Once on the train the level of Valentine’s Day marketing seemed to have increased ten fold. There were adverts for restaurants and bars for a night out, takeaway apps for a night in, hotels, more flower and card companies and a rather subtle one for the sexual health clinic.

Rey usually felt quite comfortable stood next to Ben and, more often than not on the tube, pushed up against him, but right now there was a tension between them that had been building over the past few weeks and the adverts weren’t helping. Something had to give.

Ben coughed to get her attention. “They’re really pushing this holiday, aren't they?”

“Yes I’d noticed that too.” said Rey trying to work out why Ben sounded so nervous.

“I mean, if two people like each other they shouldn’t have to wait for one specific day.”

“I’ve always thought that too,”

“But then again, it might give them the courage to finally say something.” Ben ran a hand through his hair messing it up slightly. Rey wanted to do that too, just to see if it was as soft as it looked.

“It might, as long as they weren’t putting too much pressure on themselves.”

“Yes, so," Ben coughed again. “Willyouhavedinnerwithmeonthursday?”

Rey blinked at him, taking a moment to register what he had just said. Then another moment to realise that they had just been talking about themselves not the hypothetical.

You wanted this to happen, why didn’t you realise this was happening? She mentally scolded herself. Your taking too long to answer. If you don’t answer right now you might just make him cry. Answer damn you!

“No forget it. It was a stupid idea,” Ben said quietly. He tried to smile but Rey could see the tears in his eyes.

“No I want to go out with you, I’m just not very good at processing emotions sometimes.” she said quickly, hoping to save the situation.

“So you do want to have dinner with me?”

“Really.” she said with a bright smile that Ben matched. They were going on a proper date. One that couldn’t be misinterpreted as anything else because it was Valentine’s Day.

***

The next day when Rey got to work she ran straight to Rose. Ben told her where they were having dinner and she needed something to wear.

She had thought about asking Jess to come shopping with her to cheer her up, but she had been rather subdued since she came back to work and Rey knew there was nothing worse than spending time with someone who was really excited when you were not. It was best not to mention the ‘b’ word, but at least it seemed like she had come to terms with it.

“Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose,” Rey burst into the HR office. Luckily Rose was already there.

“What?” she looked a tiny bit annoyed that she had been disturbed while eating her breakfast.

“Ben asked me out for dinner on Valentine’s Day and I don’t have anything to wear. Will you come shopping with me?” Rey was a little breathless.

“Fin-al-ly.” Rose sounded out with a huge smile. “So where are you going?”

“Cloud City Lounge at the Bespin Hotel.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “No way. It takes months to get a reservation there on a regular day, let alone for Valentine’s Day. He’s either got really good connections or he’s been planning this for ages.”

“Hopefully the first one. The second implies he might have been planning to go with someone else.” Though according to Hux, Ben hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while.

“Right we need a game plan. We have limited time to find something perfect to wear. The shop needs to be close by and have a good selection.”

“And isn’t too expensive. I know how much some brands are and I’m not prepared to pay those prices.”

“Fair enough, somewhere with fancy looking clothes at reasonable prices.” Rose thought for a moment. “I know where we can go. Meet me in reception at twelve thirty sharp. Have your lunch before hand.”

During her morning, while she was working, Rey once again thought about inviting Jess shopping. She liked shopping and would soon have to buy maternity clothes and baby clothes. The later even Rey, who had no interest in babies, thought were cute, the first would probably just make Jess burst into tears and complain about how fat she was.

Rey met Rose as agreed. They power walked to the tube station. Rose lead the way as they navigated the busy station, which at this time of day was full of tourists.

Rose could move quite fast for someone with such short legs, that when they got off the train and into the shopping arcade, Rey was struggling to keep up.

The shop she had brought her to was stocked full of dresses in all different styles and colours. If Rey had been on her own she would have been overwhelmed, but Rose had a game plan.

“You’re out in the evening so I’d suggest dark colours. Some sparkle would be nice but everything with glitter on in here will leave a trail of it wherever you go so we’ll ignore it. Having something form fitting will make you look more sophisticated than something flowy. You’re taller than me so you’d get away with something long.”

Rey had just been following Rose around and carrying whatever item of clothing she was handed.

“Right go try these on.” Rose pushed Rey towards the changing rooms. She had never been in a changing room before, she had always just picked something off the rack and hoped it fitted when she got home. The little room felt strange to her. The thin curtain didn’t seem like it would stop anyone from seeing anything and it felt extremely weird to be changing in front of a full length mirror.

Rey hung up all the clothes Rose had handed her and started to change into one. It was a black off the shoulder dress with a ruffle along the top and at the bottom of the pencil skirt.

Rey put it on and realised that there was a zip at the back that she’d need help doing up. She was about to call in Rose when the woman herself burst in unannounced to see if she needed anything.

“You’ll have to take your bra off.” Rose said. Rey hadn’t thought it would matter so had left it on, but apparently it did. She stared at Rose’s reflection when she didn’t immediately turn around or leave.

“Oh sorry,” she got the hint and turned around. “I grew up with a sister and we didn’t have much personal space and I forget there are boundaries with other people sometimes.”

Rey quickly shimmed out of her bra and dumped it on the floor with the rest of her clothes, while trying to keep herself covered and not look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t particularly want to see the scrawny naked girl looking back at her.

“Do you have a strapless one you can wear?” Rose asked as she did up the zip. Rey shook her head. “Oh well, you could probably get away with not wearing one, if you’re comfortable with that of course. I never could. Or we can go get a really nice lacey one.”

“Why would it have to be a really nice lacey one?” Rey asked as she looked herself over in the mirror. She quite liked this dress. It was probably the nicest one she’d ever worn.

“In case you end up going home with him. We’ll have to get some matching panties as well.” Rose said with a grin.

“Rose!” she tried to act annoyed. “I’m not going to go home with him on a first date. He is not going to see my underwear.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“It will help with making your panty line less visible though.” Rey looked down at the very clear outline of her cheap but comfy pants, maybe Rose had a point.

“Hurry up and try the other dresses on.” Rose said undoing the zip causing Rey’s arms to fly up to catch the dress before it fell down to far.

“But I like this one.”

“Just try on the others in case you like one of them more. What size shoe are you? I saw some on the shelf that would go with all of these dresses.”

Rose was right, she did prefer one of the other outfits. It was a black, one shoulder jumpsuit with a slight shimmer to the material and best of all it had pockets.

Rey left the shop with that and a pair of sparkly black high heels Rose had picked out for her. They were a bit higher than anything she had ever worn before, but Rose suggested that she should practice wearing them at work to get used to them.

She was all set to go back to work when Rose pulled her into another shop which, to her horror, was full of underwear.

“Look I know you’re pretty adamant that you’re not going to sleep with him, and that’s fine, but a good piece of lingerie can be empowering and give you confidence.”

Rey had no idea how what Rose had just said could be true, but she decided to just humour her and bought the first black set she found that didn’t look like it would be too uncomfortable.

They scurried back into the office just within their allotted lunch hour. Rose went back up to HR and Rey went back to her office really quite excited for her date now that she had something to wear. It was just a shame she now had to sit and analyse data for the next couple of days before she got to go out.

***

They had decided that Ben would pick Rey up at half six from the Resistance offices, that should give Rose enough time to help her get ready.

Pretty much everyone else had gone home but there were still a few stragglers finishing off bits and pieces so they weren’t completely alone. Finn was sat in the office with them as Rose used her travel sized straighteners to put a light curl in Rey’s hair, but he wasn’t doing anything useful.

“Why are you still here?” Rey asked as she couldn’t really do anything else while Rose was doing her hair.

“I’m here to make sure this Ben is worthy of taking our Rey out.”

Rey rolled her eyes, it was the most movement she could do, she wouldn’t put it past Rose to burn her on purpose if she moved.

She kind of wanted Finn to leave, she didn’t want to see his reaction when he found out her Ben was the guy who interviewed him at First Order Financial and the guy he now screamed and ran away from every time they bumped into each other.

“Won’t your mother be suspicious if you’re out late tonight?”

“Nah, my Dad’s taking her out and I’ve got a few friends from college to cover for me so we’re all good.”

Damn it, Rey thought. She thought that the mother card would work and make him leave.

Rose was well practised at her tasks and she soon finished Rey’s hair and moved onto her makeup. The makeup Rose applied was a lot more dramatic and glamorous than she usually wore, she preferred a natural look, that she almost didn’t recognise herself in the mirror.

“Right, we’re going to get charged. Finn would you please do something useful and run the lint roller over Rey’s coat.” Rose could be very demanding when she wanted to be. Finn obeyed her and Rey let herself be led to the bathroom to change.

Rose stood outside the cubicle while Rey changed into her new underwear. She still had no idea how she was supposed to feel confident, it was completely see through and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted anyone to see her wearing it.

Rose zipped up her jumpsuit, checked her makeup and fluffed up her hair. As a finishing touch Rose had let her borrow a clutch which was big enough for her keys, ID and card, she would leave everything else in the office as she was at work again the next day. Rey glared at Rose when she noticed she’d slipped a condom in the little zip up pocket.

“What? It always helps to be prepared.” she said innocently.

Finn whistled when they returned to the office. Rey blushed and did a little twirl. They all then went to wait in the reception area for Ben to show up.

Rey was getting a bit nervous and had to keep her hands in her coat pockets to stop her from picking at her nails. At least her coat looked very nice now that Finn had used the lint roller on it.

“You guys really don’t have to stay you know.” said Rey. She felt bad for keeping them at the office but she was glad they were there.

“We don’t mind.” said Rose. “I want to meet this man of yours.” Finn nodded in agreement. He had his back to the front entrance when Ben walked in.

He was wearing a very nice grey suit that had a nice contrast to his shiny black shoes, hair and overcoat. It was really nice to see him in something different, yet something familiar that suited him so well.

“Is that Ben?” Rose whispered. Rey nodded. She had smiled at Ben when he walked in and they locked eyes. “Well I approve. Where can I get my own?”

Finn was in the middle of laughing when he turned around to see Ben for himself. When he did his face fell and anything he was going to say in a protective big brother kind of way went out the window as he yelped and scurried to hide behind Rose like a frightened little mouse.

“That’s your Ben?” Finn hissed from his hiding spot that was way too small. “Rey how could you?”

“Finn get off.” cried Rose.

“If I’d told you, you’d still act weird and probably try and stop me going.” Rey hissed back.

“With good reason-”

“Hey,” Rey said brightly cutting off Finn as Ben was now well within ear shot. They both didn’t know whether they should embrace or not so they did an awkward that Rose thought was adorable.

“Nice to meet you Ben, I’m Rose.” she introduced herself. “You can thank me for Rey’s styling this evening.”

Rey felt Ben’s eyes look her up and down rather appreciatively and she quite liked it, maybe she’d get to dress up a bit more often now.

“And this is Finn.” she gestured behind her. “He’s acting a bit weird but he knows how to use a lint roller.” she had meant it as a joke but no one was laughing.

“Okay, don’t let us keep you.” Rose started shooing them towards the door. “Have fun and stay safe, and Rey, I want all of the details in the morning.”

Rey rolled her eyes at her friend. “Bye Rose.”

She felt Ben relax a little when they stepped out into the cold night air, she knew he didn’t like meeting new people. He led her to a sleek black town car that was parked outside, the door was held open by the driver.

“This is fancy.” Rey said giggling as she got in and sat down on the cool leather seat.

“I thought I’d treat you instead of making us go on the tube.” he smiled at her as the driver pulled away.

“Good point. These shoes are only comfortable up to a certain point.” she clicked the heels of her new shoes together. “And I’m sorry about Finn.”

“It’s ok. He’s not the only one who runs away when they see me.”

“I don’t think you should be proud of that.”

Ben shrugged. “I’ve been putting people off lately because I’ve been so happy.”

She had to turn and look out the window to stop him seeing her blush. Not that he could really see her anyway. It was dark and the streetlights and car headlights around them, didn’t really provide the right kind of light.

Rey suspected that it might have been quicker to go on the tube because the traffic in central Coruscant was terrible, but she wasn’t complaining. The car was a nice quiet place where it was just her and Ben.

They got dropped off right at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the front of the hotel. The Bespin Hotel was a very old and very grand building, a long time favourite of Coruscant’s rich and famous. They were still outside but Rey already felt like she didn’t belong, that the doormen were already eyeing her, getting ready to deny her entry.

But then, as they were climbing the stairs, Ben took her hand and that all melted away. His smile softened his dark brown eyes and in that moment Rey knew she had found the place she belonged. But those were some pretty deep feelings she was going to keep to herself for now, this was only the first date after all.

They made their way across the sumptuously decorated lobby to the lift specifically designed to take guest straight to Cloud City Lounge at the very top of the hotel. Even though there was only one destination, the lift still had an attendant to press the button for them.

Cloud City Lounge was a very popular high end restaurant in Coruscant as it offered an extensive and prize winning menu as well as views over Coruscant’s skyline. Being Valentine’s Day it was very busy with several couples in the waiting area either waiting for their reservation time or seeing if they could get lucky.

Ben gave his name at the hostess stand. “Just wait here one moment please sir.” the hostess said politely and disappeared behind a staff only door.

“Where is she going?” Rey asked slightly panicked that they weren’t going to get a table. “You did make a reservation right?”

“Sort of,” Rey frowned at him. “Don’t worry, we’ll get our dinner. I may have to suffer a bit of embarrassment though.”

“Why would you -” before Rey could finish her question a very eccentric looking older man wearing a blue silk shirt with a matching blue and yellow cape walked out of the staff only area followed by the hostess, with arms open ready for a hug.

“There’s my little star fighter.” Ben grimaced as the man embraced him.

“Please don’t call me that Lando.”

“Nonsense. No matter how big you get, you’ll always be my little star fighter.” Ben rolled his eyes.

“Speaking of which,” Lando turned to Rey and turned his charm factor all the way up. “Who do we have here?”

Rey couldn’t help but smile much to Ben’s chagrin. “I’m Rey.” She offered him her hand to shake, but instead he lifted it to his mouth.

“And what, may I ask, are you doing having dinner with my nephew here Rey?” He kissed the back of her hand and she got distracted by how bristly his moustache felt.

“Lando, stop it.” Ben said sternly.

“What?” said Lando playing innocent. “It’s been such a long time since you’ve brought a girl around, I’m curious.”

“Then stop trying to scare her off.” he practically growled.

“I’m not scared.” Rey freed herself from Lando’s grasp and went to link arms with Ben. She could instantly feel him lighten up.

“Very well.” Lando said smoothly. “Ellie, show nephew and his date to my favourite table, and bring them out a bottle of Champagne.”

They were led out to a table that was more secluded than the others, by a window that had a magnificent night time view out over Coruscant that wasn’t full of cranes like the views out of the other windows. The view distracted Rey while different servers buzzed around them; someone took their coats, someone brought out the Champagne and poured out a glass and someone else gave them menus.

Rey looked at Ben shyly over the top of her closed menu. She wasn’t used to this level of service or eating somewhere where there was multiple glasses and sets of cutlery on the table. It was a bit daunting but she trusted Ben to be patient with her.

She also had so many questions about Lando that she wanted to ask, but they had all evening and she could wait until they were left alone.

Ben was studying the drinks menu. “Would you like anything else to drink?”

“No I’m fine with the Champagne. I’m not really a big drinker and there’s only a couple of glasses each out of a bottle.” she said. “But if you want something else, you can do.”

“I’m ok with it too. We’ll just get a pitcher of water as we still need to go to work tomorrow.” he closed the drinks menu and opened the food one.

“Good idea. I take it this is the kind of place where you order three courses. As hungry as I am, I don’t think I can eat that much.”

“Don’t worry the portion sizes are very reasonable, I’m sure you can manage.”

Rey opened her menu then immediately closed it again after glancing at the prices. “Good God!”

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked looking concerned.

“The price! One course costs more that I spend on food in a week.” She exclaimed. She really wasn’t sure if she was ok spending that sort of money.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m paying.” he said reaching across the table for her.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you spending that kind of money on me.”

“I asked you out for dinner and it was my idea to come here, so this is my treat. Next time you can choose where we go.”

“You think there’s going to be a next time?” she said hoping she sounded teasing. Most of the time when she tried, people misinterpreted her and it ended with an argument.

“Well, we’ve made it this far.” Luckily he matched her tone. Of course she wanted a second date and a third and a fourth. She wanted Ben to be her boyfriend.

“So please, order what you want, and not just the cheapest thing on the menu.”

“Very well.” Rey said opening her menu again. “But just so you know, we’re going to Dex’s Diner next time.”

“Fine by me, they do good burgers.”

Someone soon came to take their order and they also took away some of the obsolete cutlery and glasses, making the table a little less crowded.

“So,” Rey said lightly tapped the stem of her Champagne flute. “Uncle Lando, huh?”

“Yeah. Just one of the many eccentric people my dad has met over the years.”

“Is he really wearing a cape?” Of all the details this was the one she couldn’t get over.

“Yes he is. I’ve never actually seen him without one. He would give me them as presents when I was little.”

“Speaking of which,” Lando appeared out of nowhere at their table, tablet in hand.

“No. Go away Lando.” Ben scowled at him.

“I thought you could use some help.” Lando said unfazed. “I did promise to be your wing man after all.”

“That was ten years ago! And I don’t need any help, things are going fine.”

Lando didn’t answer, just turned his tablet screen to show Rey a picture of Ben from when he was about six, stood next to a younger Lando, the pair of them in matching capes.

“Aww, you look so cute.” said Rey.

“Great.” Ben muttered into his glass as he took a big swig. Rey giggled.

“Enjoy your evening lovebirds.” Lando said and he disappeared.

“You know there would have been a time when I would have swung for him for doing that.” Ben said sadly. “You wouldn’t have liked me back then.”

“I think it’s sweet. There aren’t any baby pictures of me and no one to show them to you, so you can’t get even.” he reached his hand across the table and she took it and gave it a squeeze. “Let’s not dwell on that. Let’s talk about happy things.” She waved her free hand around as if batting away the painful memories floating around her head.

The rest of the meal went really well. Lando didn’t come and bother them again which Ben was thankful for. The servers were attentive, bringing out their food in good time, always making sure their drinks were topped up and they tried to talk them into getting another bottle of Champagne which they politely declined.

The meal itself was one of the best that Rey had ever had and she decided it was probably worth the price. Her main course of slow roasted pork belly was amazing as was Ben’s steak that he let her try. She thought he’d made the better choice of dessert though and he had to keep playfully batting away her spoon when she tried to steal some.

They spent the evening talking about funny little stories about little Ben and his pseudo aunts and uncles and those with his Godkids now that he was a pseudo uncle himself.

Rey secretly wished that her parents had had some eccentric, rich, childless friends then she may have had someone to care for her and not have had to bounce from home to home. For it seemed that if anything had happened to Han and Leia when Ben was little, Lando, Chewie or Amilyn would have taken him in.

Ben asked for the bill when they finished their after dinner coffee which was very strong and Rey didn’t like as much as the rest of the meal.

It had gotten quite late. There were still quite a few people in the bar area but the restaurant had quietened down considerably.

The waiter brought over the leather wallet with the cheque inside and left them to look it over. Rey didn’t think she wanted to know the total cost. She had already decided they would be going to Dex’s Diner next time which would cost them twenty five pounds max.

Ben pulled an unimpressed face at what was inside the wallet.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rey. It couldn’t be the price, Ben said he was happy to pay. He handed her the wallet without a word.

Inside, instead of the cheque there was a handwritten note. On the house. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Uncle Lando. Tucked behind it was a key card, royal blue and gold, the colours of the hotel.

It took Rey a moment to register what it meant. “I’m not - we’re not -” she stammered.

“I know we’re not,” Ben said taking the wallet back. At least he didn’t sound disappointed by her refusal. “Besides the obvious, this is the key to Lando’s private suite and I don’t know what he’s been up to in there but I’m pretty sure that’s where Hux and Gwen conceived Alfie last year.”

“Gross.” Ben nodded in agreement. “So do we just give that back and leave?”

“Guess so. Do you want to go out onto the balcony before we go?”

The cold night air hit them immediately as they stepped outside. The view wasn’t quite as good as the one they had had from their table but it was no less magnificent. The only bad part was that the balcony also served as the smoking area for the restaurant, but they found a quiet spot to talk.

“I had a really great time tonight,” Rey said huddling a bit closer to him for warmth, he got the hint and wrapped his arm around her.

“Yeah, me too.”

“Does this mean I get to call you my boyfriend?” she sounded a bit juvenile, but she was too happy to care.

“Well as you’ve already planned our next date, I think you ought to.” he said just as happily.

“We need to think of other places we can go and things to do. Just try and make them a bit cheaper than this place.”

Ben laughed. “Technically this place was very cheap.”

“Yes but we really shouldn’t rely on nepotism.”

He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. He pulled away but before he could get too far, Rey stood on her tiptoes, for even in her new high heels she was still a bit shorter than him, and kissed him on the mouth.

It was only a very brief kiss and she pulled back hoping Ben didn’t think she was being too forward. His dark eyes were a bit wide in surprise but there was nothing in his expression to say that it was unwelcome. That gave her the confidence to give it another go.

This time he kissed her back. His soft lips moved smoothly against hers. He tasted of coffee and chocolate he had had for dessert. She didn’t know how long they had stood there, but she sighed in contentment, happy to be held in a pair of strong arms.

“Are you sure you two kids don’t want my room key?” The interruption made them jump and break apart.

“Go away Lando.”

***

“So. Tell me all about it. I need details.” Rose came bounding into Rey’s office the next morning. “Though, as it looks like you’ve slept and those aren’t yesterday’s clothes, they’re not going to be very juicy.”

“I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t going to sleep with him.” Rey replied. “But that doesn’t mean that the whole evening wasn’t wonderful.”

“Do you really want us all to hear this?” asked Snap who was the one who felt most uncomfortable knowing about other people’s personal lives.

“I just can’t believe you went out with someone from First Order Financial. They’re a bunch of humourless cyborgs. Evil cyborgs.” Finn said with his usual dramatics whenever the subject came up.

“He may be at work but I think he’s really nice and I really like him.” Rey said.

“So what was Cloud City Lounge like?” Rose asked to turn the conversation back to what she’d gone in there for. “Does it live up to the reviews?”

Before Rey could answer, Jess, who had been very quiet up to that point, let out a huge sob. “Thanks Rey for rubbing your happiness in all our faces.” She got up knocking a pile of folders over, and ran out of the room crying.

The four of them sat in an awkward silence for a minute. Rey did feel bad that she was going on about how happy to not be alone she was, while Jess was probably feeling the opposite.

“I’ll go talk to her,” she said finally and went to find Jess in her usual toilet cubicle.

“Jess,” she knocked lightly on the door.

“Go away.” Jess sobbed. Rey thought it was best to apologise before doing as she asked.

“Jess, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never been in a relationship before and I’m just excited that I’ve finally got a boyfriend. I’ll try not to go on about it anymore.”

The toilet door opened and Jess stood there with a blotchy face, red puffy eyes and a confused expression. “You’ve never had a boyfriend? But you’re like, pretty.”

Rey shrugged. “I’m terrible at picking up on social cues so if anyone did like me I didn’t notice them, until I met Ben and then I was still not very good.”

“Does that mean you’re a, you know.” Jess was at least decent enough not to say it even though she was asking about it.

“No, but that is a really rather embarrassing story that I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Tell me what’s really the matter with you.” Rey added changing the subject to get it well away from her.

Jess sighed and leaned her head against Rey’s shoulder. “I can’t get hold of Thomas to tell him about the baby.”

“You want him in the baby’s life?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Maybe. Depends what he wants.” Jess pushed her dark hair out of her face. “I’ve come to terms with doing this on my own, not that I’ll be on my own, I’ve got my sisters. But I don’t want him to find out in a couple of years that he’s got a love child I never told him about and he takes them away from me.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. You’d come to a less extreme arrangement.”

“But he could, his father is a lawyer, it would be easy for them.”

Rey was sure that Jess had watched too many soap operas for her to jump to that conclusion, but she let her have her cry.

“You’ll find a way to tell him. It’ll all work out.” she said as reassuringly as she could.

Jess grabbed some tissues to blow her nose. “Sorry, you’re right. My hormones are making me a little crazy.” She splashed some water on her face and returned to relative normality. “So what was Cloud City Lounge like?”

Rey smiled. “Let’s go find Rose and I’ll tell you both together.”


	7. March

“Quick. You need to tidy this place up.” It was just after lunchtime when Poe Dameron burst into their office. Sure there were a few food wrappers and drink bottles around the place but it wasn’t that bad.

“Why?” asked Finn.

“Because Princess Leia has decided to drop in and she wants a tour of the building.”

It was a bit of a scramble but they managed to make the office look presentable before Leia was spotted on their floor. Poe had been keeping a look out rather than helping.

“Seriously Rey, why do you have so many porgs on your desk?” he asked giving her desk a look over.

“Because I like them.” she said. She wasn’t going to put her porgs away for anyone,even if she was a princess and her boyfriend’s mother. In all the commotion, she managed to send him a message.

Rey: Your mother is here.  
Ben: Shit. Lando and Holdo must have tipped her off. Run away  
Rey: I can’t. She’s stood outside the door.

She also frowned at the fact that it sounded like Ben hadn’t mentioned her to his mother. Even if he didn’t talk to her that often, surely a big life change such as this deserves a mention?

Before she could dwell on it further, Holdo led Leia and her assistant into their office. She saw Poe straighten up and puff out his chest a bit. The rest of them were stood there slightly awkwardly. They weren’t supposed to bow or anything so Rey wondered why they had to stand on ceremony.

“So this is our Data Analysis Team.” Holdo was giving her friend a rather formal tour. “You obviously know Poe Dameron. Snap and Jess have been working here for over a year now. Then there are our two newest members Finn, and this is Rey.”

Holdo was quite pleased with herself at how subtle she thought she was being. Rey was not. She did not like being singled out.

Leia was wearing a navy skirt and jacket with a light blue blouse. Her brown hair streaked with grey was pinned up in a simple yet elegant style. Rey was feeling slightly intimidated as she approached.

“Hello Rey,” Leia said in a soft but gravelly voice.

“Hello,” Rey said with a nervous smile. She had no idea how she was supposed to address her, if only Poe had told them instead of insisting that every single piece of loose paper had to be shoved in a drawer.

“Do you enjoy working here at Resistance?”

“Yes very much.” She could feel everyone’s eyes on her.

“And this is your desk. I’m impressed, I can never keep my desk this tiny.”

Rey forced a laugh. “Yes, well it’s not normally like this.”

“I see you’re a fan of that darling show.” Leia nodded to her little collection of Porg Island figures.

“Yes I think it’s cute.”

Leia reached over and picked up the little figure of Kylo. Rey didn’t miss the significance but everyone else would. “Yes it’s cute and creative and surprisingly deep.” she said softly transfixed on the figure.

A light cough broke her reverie. “Princess Leia?” Jess said in a small voice.

“Yes dear?”

“Do you know Thomas Thanisson?” Rey could have kissed Jess for getting the attention off her. Then she remembered that what she was asking was important to her, so she would keep her selfish celebration to herself.

“Yes I have since he was a boy. Why?”

“You see I, um, I er,” Jess stammered. Pretty much everyone else in the room knew what she was trying to say. She crossed her hands over her stomach, she wasn’t showing at all but that hadn’t stopped her wearing really baggy clothes. At least it calmed her down enough to speak. “I really need to tell him something and I can’t get hold of him.”

“Oh,” Leia seemed to understand her meaning straight away. She gave Kylo back to Rey and squeezed her hand. “It was nice meeting you Rey. Now Jess, why don’t you come with me and Kaydel and tell us what happened.”

The room was then very empty after they all left, with Rey, Finn, Snap and Poe just stood there. Rey was the first to sit down.

“How come Princess Leia was so interested in you?” Finn asked as he sat down. Rey debated telling him, knowing his reaction to anything related to Ben, but he really needed to get over it.

“Because I’m dating her son.”

“Ben’s her son?” - “You’re dating Ben Solo?” Finn and Poe said at the same time, obviously he had opinions too. Snap just groaned, he couldn’t care less.

Having spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Poe’s opinion of Ben, which had something to do with him abandoning his mother that Rey knew was an exaggeration on Poe’s part, Rey really needed a cuddle. Who knew Poe was such a Princess Leia stan?

She had also had to put up with high pitched squealing and other excitable noises from Jess who was thanking her for finding a way to talk to Thomas even though she had literally done nothing.

Rey and Ben had started meeting each other at the coffee shop outside the tube station. It was a bit more out of the way and gave them a bit more space.

As soon as she got to him, Rey wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed until he made a funny noise. She liked doing that. It was so nice to have someone to hug after being at work all day, even if they were both a bit sweaty.

She turned her head so that her chin was on his chest and she could look up at him. This was usually the sign for him to lean down and give her a kiss but tonight they had a bit to talk about.

“So today was interesting.” she said.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I had no idea she would do that.”

“And then I had to listen to Poe go on and on about how you’re a terrible person because you abandoned your mother. Now Finn feels his opinion is validated, and I don’t like it because that’s not the you I know.” She pushed her face into his chest and he held her a little tighter.

“Dameron doesn’t know the whole story. He just likes to suck up to my mother because he wants Holdo’s job one day. Besides she came to see me after she saw you.”

“Really? How did that go?” Rey looked up at him again.

“So embarrassing.” he shuddered and Rey giggled. “She informed me we’re going out for afternoon tea on Mother’s Day.”

“That’ll be nice. I was wondering if you were going to do anything for her.”

“No. She’s already booked it and her assistant Kaydel, sent me the details, and you’re coming too.”

“What? Why?” she jumped back.

“She wants to meet you properly.”

Rey was caught between a range of emotions. She had at least already met Leia, but now there would be more pressure, and not being able to remember her own mother meant she had never done anything on Mother’s Day before, how was she supposed to act?

***

“Why are we playing mini golf at half nine in the morning?” Ben asked as they descended the stairs to the golf course. It took a minute to get used to the change in lighting.

“Because I found this place online and it looked cool.” said Rey heading for the check in desk.

“Not that. Why nine thirty on a Saturday morning?” He sounded like he wasn’t used to being up and out this early.

“Well, I didn’t want to be stuck behind a whole load of people and first thing in the morning sounded like the best time to avoid that.”

“But there is a bar and food kiosks here and we’re too early for lunch.”

“Which is why I’ve also planned for us to go on a nice walk to somewhere we can get lunch. Quit moaning and pick your ball.”

Ben sighed and picked a red ball, Rey took a blue one.

“One more thing then I’ll stop complaining. You may think this is ‘mini’ golf but to me it is ‘stupidly tiny’ golf.”

Rey knew she shouldn’t laugh but he did look funny hunched over his putter as he lined up the first hole, it was a bit too small.

“Fine, but it was my turn to choose where we went. Next weekend is your turn.”

Ben got his ball in the hole in three strokes, Rey wrote in on the scorecard with the tiny pencil and handed it to Ben so she could have her turn.

“Not that we have much choice next weekend. We’re having afternoon tea with my mother remember.”

“Damn.” she said. It was more for the fact that her ball just skirted the edge of the hole than what Ben just said, which meant she also had three strokes for the first hole.

“I’ve never met anyone’s mother before. I don’t know how to act. What do I wear?”

“Just be yourself, and I’d say you would be fine wearing a dress.” Ben frowned at the ball that had wedged itself in a corner. “It’s at Canto Bight, so we have to dress nice.”

“But that’s a casino.”

“That’s what I said, but apparently they do afternoon tea as well.” There was a satisfying noise of the ball going into the hole. “That was four.”

They traded places again. Rey managed to get three strokes putting her slightly ahead.

“Ben.” Rey said after he took his first hit at the third hole. She decided to ask him something that had been bugging her for a couple of days. “Did you tell your mother about me or did she hear from other people?”

Ben sighed. His second shot went wide. “The others told her, I just had to confirm it when she called then I hung up.”

“Why? Are you ashamed of me?” she said in a small voice.

“What? No. Damn it.” His shot went wide again. “Hang on. Let me finish this.” Rey may have put him off because he ended up taking five shots.

“So the reason I didn’t want to say anything to my mother yet is because instead of asking something nice like ‘are you happy son?’ it would be ‘when are you giving me grandchildren?’ and I don’t think it’s right to ask that.”

“No it’s not. I mean, we’ve only been together a few weeks and we haven’t even, you know.” Rey felt herself blush hard and decided to concentrate on her golf game instead.

“Exactly. So you’re not mad at me for not telling her?” Ben could look like a giant puppy when he wanted to with his big, dark eyes and soft fluffy hair.

“We’ll see how next week goes. Yees.” She got three strokes again. She liked this game, she was winning. “So how do we keep her away from the baby subject?”

“I guess we could keep her talking about herself. Her work, charity, Alderaan.”

“I’ll do my research then.”

“Do you want me to tell her about Jakku and the rest of it so nothing awful accidentally comes up?”

“I think you’d better. It’s always so awkward when something comes out and people feel the need to sympathise.”

“Good. Now that’s out of the way, shall we just finish our game?”

Rey realised they had just stopped playing and were stood around talking, not that there was anyone else there for them to hold up.

Ben managed to catch up with Rey as she got stuck on a hole that had an incline, but for the most part they were evenly matched. At the final hole they were tied and in the end Rey won by one stroke.

She turned to him with a triumphant smile before they returned their putters. “So, what’s my prize?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have anything to give you but myself.” Rey couldn’t help but laugh at how corny and charming that was at the same time before melting into the searing kiss Ben Solo gave her.

***

Rey had gone out and bought herself a new dress for afternoon tea on Mother’s Day. It was long sleeved and had a flowy skirt that reached just below her knees. It was grey but if you looked closely, it was covered in tiny flowers in a slightly different shade. She thought it was the right balance of youthful and formal that would be appropriate for having tea with an ambassador in the lounge of a casino.

She’d also got some tips off Rose as to how to do her hair so that it had some volume and stayed looking nice all day.

Rey had arranged to meet Ben at his tube station then they would make the rest of the journey by car. She would have been more than happy to make the whole journey on the tube but Ben had insisted that they go in the car as it would be a more direct route. Plus the fact, Rey had felt rather conspicuous in her nice new dress when everyone else on the train she was on was wearing jeans and jumpers.

Like last time, he was waiting for her in front of a chauffeur driven black town car and wearing, what could have been the same, grey suit, but he did look good in it.

“Hey, we match.” she said as she bounded up to him.

“Mother’s going to have a field day about that for sure.” Ben said after giving her a kiss.

“I think we look cute.”

“Exactly.” He opened the car door for her. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

“Did you get your mother anything?” Rey looked around the leather clad interior of the car and didn’t see any presents.

“I had some flowers sent over earlier.” Ben was staring out the window. Rey thought he might have been mentally preparing himself.

“I did wonder if you’d get her anything. How did the stuff you told her go down? The stuff about me?”

He turned to face her and held her hand on the arm rest between them. “She took it pretty well I guess. I told her not to bring it up, although she was like ‘but we have so much in common, I don’t remember my birth parents either’.”

Rey let out a bitter laugh at Ben’s near perfect impersonation of his mother. “Yeah so much in common. Apart from the fact that she got adopted straight away by a frigging Queen.”

“I know, but I’ll do my best to steer the conversation elsewhere.”

“Thank you Ben.” She gave his hand a little squeeze. Then something outside caught her attention. “What’s going on out there?”

People with large cameras lined the fence outside the casino, unperturbed by the casino security guards staring them down on the other side. A couple of them turned in their direction when they stopped and the driver gave their names to the guard on the gate.

“Are those paparazzi?” Rey asked finding it a bit surreal. “Are they here because of your mother?”

“No. Mother never has this many following her. Someone else must be here as well.” he said distantly.

“Are they going to take pictures of us?” she whispered but she didn’t quite know why.

“Why should they?”

“Because of who you are?” she shrugged “You’ve been papped before.”

“Outside of Alderaan, I’m of no interest to anyone, I live a private life so I get left alone. I only got caught last time because I was with Maisie.”

Rey was ashamed to think back on how she had reacted when she’d seen that picture. She had acted horribly towards Ben and all he was doing was trying to get her a present she would really like.

They walked into the lavish lobby of the Canto Bight Casino hand in hand. Rey thought she saw a couple of flashes go off behind them, but it could have just been her imagination.

Afternoon tea was being served in one of the dining rooms, as Canto Bight wasn’t just a casino. There were bars and restaurants, conference rooms and even an exclusive gym and spa.

As they approached the sign in area, a young woman whose blonde hair was up in two buns, popped up in front of them. Rey recognised her as Leia’s assistant.

“Hello Kay.” Ben said, but Kaydel skipped the pleasantries.

“Just so you’re not totally blindsided, your father’s here.” Rey felt Ben’s grip on her hand tighten. “And before you ask, I don’t know why he’s here. He wasn’t supposed to come or at the very least he’d sit at a sabacc table all afternoon. I have already had to negotiate an extra place setting and now I’m going to try and deal with those vultures outside.”

She spoke fast and was clearly exacerbated. “Good to see you again Rey. You look nice.” Then she was gone again.

“Ben?” He had gone quiet and was quite pale.

“I didn’t think we’d have to face both of them.” he said.

“It’ll be ok.” she said giving him a side hug. “We can hold hands under the table for support.” She needed it as much as he did.

“OK, let’s get this over with.” he said for the second time that day.

Han and Leia were already there. They were easy to spot even though there were a number of families there enjoying their afternoon tea. Leia was wearing something similar to what she had worn the other day which fitted the dress code nicely, but Han was wearing a beat up leather jacket that certainly didn’t. Rey wondered how he was getting away with it.

“Hello Mother.” Ben leaned down to give Leia a kiss on the cheek, she had stood up but he still had to lean down quite a way. Rey wondered how such a short woman had produced a giant of a son.

“Hello darling,” Leia said patting him on the cheek, then she turned her attention to Rey. “It’s wonderful to see you again Rey.”

Rey was about to respond but didn’t because Leia surprised her by giving her a warm hug.

“Rey, this is my husband Han.”

“Hi,” she said shyly. She couldn’t help but be a bit star stuck. This was Han Solo her favourite actor of all time. He didn’t get up, but did offer his hand and gave her a firm handshake.

“So you’re the Rey I signed those books for. I was informed that I spelt your name wrong.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to people spelling it with an a.”

“Short for Rachel right?” Leia said from the opposite side of the table.

“Yes but no one calls me that.”

“Why are you here?” Ben had been glaring at his father since they sat down.

“I wasn’t going to, but then your mother said you were bringing a girl along so I had to meet her, especially because, rumour has it, we might actually like this one.” Rey smiled at Ben hoping to get him to relax a little. “And if she likes reading Texas Jack books, I like her already.” He winked at her.

Before anyone could say anything else, their tea arrived alone with a tower of fancy little sandwiches and cakes. Leia ordered some Champagne and Han grumbled because he wanted whiskey.

Things started off well. Rey sat and talked to Han about Texas Jack and Space Wars and a few other films of his. Ben may not have liked it but he was busy talking to Leia. Besides, wasn’t their plan to keep the conversation away from themselves?

“Rey, has there been any developments with your friend from work?” asked Leia.

“You mean Jess?” Leia nodded. “Yeah I think everything got sorted out earlier this week actually.”

“Who’s Jess?” asked Han as he had no idea what was going on.

“Someone Rey works with who got knocked up at that New Year’s Eve party you and Ben went to, by Thomas Thanisson.” Leia explained.

“Thanisson? That weed? Wouldn’t have thought he had it in him.” said Han.

“That’s what I said.” Ben mumbled into his tea cup.

“So what happened?” asked Leia.

“Well the other day, Poe shows these two men into our office, one I recognised as Thomas, and before they could get Jess out so they could have a private conversation, the older man, Qui-Gon Jinn, starts yelling at Thomas about whether Jess was the girl and that he was an idiot.

“At this point Jess was almost in tears because she thought he would call her names, but he didn’t. He was really nice and calm with her, said that he needed her to do a paternity test to make sure but he wanted updates and he’d give her child support. She’s now really happy.”

“I thought it would be best to go straight to Jinn. He’s a sensible man and I knew he’d want to be involved as he had no biological children.”

“What about Thomas?” Rey asked.

“His stepson. They lost his mother years ago. It was very sad. The boy kept her name.”

“Oh,” was all Rey said to that. They had somehow got onto the topic of dead mothers. She was happy Jess would be getting some support, even if it wasn’t from her baby’s father.

“So Mother,” Ben started as they had agreed that they would try and change the topic of conversation but Leia interrupted to ask him something.

“How are the Hux children? Are you doing anything today?”

“I got sent a picture earlier of their attempt to make Gwen breakfast. There was a lot of smoke.”

“Bless them. Have things settled down with Bertie at school yet? You said he didn’t like his teacher.”

“Yes I think they’re come to an understanding. Gwen’s just hoping that Alice won’t have the same teacher as Bertie had or there will be trouble.”

“I can’t believe Alice starts school in September and that little Alfie will be one next month.” Leia sighed wistfully. “How fast children grow. Have you met the Hux children yet Rey?”

“No I haven’t but I’ve bumped into Hux himself a couple of times.” Rey had finished her sandwiches and was eyeing the mouthwatering selection of cakes.

“When you do, keep an eye on the girl.” Han warned.

“Why?” asked Rey. The times she’d seen the children there hadn’t been anything to make her believe there was anything wrong.

“There is nothing wrong with Alice.” Ben said feeling the need to defend the little girl.

“You only say that because she has you wrapped around her little finger.”

“She does not.”

“Rey, when you meet her, tell me which one of us is right.” That sounded a bit ominous. She was hoping that when she met the children it wouldn’t turn out like the Mason situation. She didn’t want three children being hostile towards her.

“Rey dear, you haven’t touched your Champagne. Is there a reason behind it? Are you well?” Leia said almost gleefully.

“Mother don’t.” Ben hissed at her, but Rey didn’t quite know why.

“It’s ok, I’m just not a very big drinker, especially during the day.” She was aware that was probably mildly insulting as everyone else at the table was drinking, but instead of stopping, she just put her foot in it even more. “Do you want it? It being Mother’s Day and all.”

****

“So that didn’t go disastrously.” Rey said as they relaxed into the back of the car to go home. They had left Han and Leia behind so that he could finally have his whiskey and do some gambling.

“Apart from the fact you sort of called them alcoholics,” said Ben. “Which isn’t totally untrue but still, bad form Miss Bennet.”

She laughed at his mocking tone and playfully pushed him. “Was it just me or did most of the conversation lead back to babies and children somehow?”

Ben shrugged. “It might just be the day. After all, you can’t be a mother without a child of some sort. I wouldn’t think too much on it.”

They sat in silence for a minute, but there was something playing on her mind.

“How do you feel about babies?” she asked him looking out the window at the traffic going by. She saw him turn to face her in the reflection.

“Half the time they can be really cute and fun, the other half they can be loud and messy and tiring and -”

“I mean having babies. Do you want to have children?”

“We don’t have to have this conversation now. This relationship is so new.”

“I know, and we obviously don’t know whether it’s going to last.” Ben opened his mouth to interrupt but she raised her hand to stop him. “But this is important to some people, so I thought I should let you know now that I don’t see myself having babies for a very long time if at all.”

“Why not?” he said. Rey thought he looked a bit hurt.

“I guess I don’t feel very maternal. Maybe that’s because I grew up without a mother, maybe not, but it takes me a while to let people into my life for fear they’ll leave me if I get attached to them and knowing that this little creature is reliant on me, is a lot.”

Ben squeezed her hand. “I’ll admit I do want children, but I can wait for the right time. But my mother -”

“Has nothing to do with it.” Rey interceded.

“No but she can’t comprehend that her only child is thirty and hasn’t given her a grandchild yet. Part of me wants to have a family so that I can correct my parents’ mistakes. The other half is jealous of my fictional child.”

“Jealous how?”

“I just feel that my mum and dad will be better grandparents than they were parents.”

Rey leaned over and hugged him as best she could while sat in a car with her seat belt on.

“There. Serious discussion about our future: check.” she said in a light tone. “We’re getting good at this communication thing.”

***

“I was thinking.” Ben said as they were walking hand in hand on their way to get some lunch. “If you wanted to, that this weekend we could -”

“Wait a minute. It’s my turn to pick what we do. It was your weekend last week.”

“I didn’t choose to have tea with my parents, it was chosen for me, therefore it is still my turn.”

“Fine.” Rey was impressed that that was the same kind of logic that she would have used. “What do you want to do?”

“Well as Bertie, Alice and Alfie are a big part of my life, I thought it was time that you met each other.”

Rey froze. The idea of meeting three children at once was terrifying without knowing that one could potentially be a nightmare.

“Don’t worry.” Ben said pulling her out of the flow of foot traffic. “I won’t throw you in at the deep end. I was thinking we could have dinner with Gwen and Hux.”

“You want me to have dinner with your friends, no children? I can do that. Where are we going?”

“It’s easier for them if it’s at their house, then we can have our little dinner party without them having to find a babysitter.”

“Ok as long as you’re not springing this on them.”

“No we’ve talked about it. I’ll just confirm it when we get back from lunch.” They started walking again.

“Does this mean you’d have dinner with my friends?” Rey asked.

“If you wanted me too, but you really need to stop that Finn guy screaming every time he sees me.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried.” Maybe it wasn’t a very good idea for Ben to have dinner with her friends. Obviously there was Finn’s reactions, but Rey didn’t really hang around with anyone outside of work except Ben.

She knew that Rose would be up for it, and Jess would be now that she knew Ben was famous enough to be named in paparazzi photos. She had gleefully shown Rey the photo of them entering Canto Bight Casino. It wasn’t a very good photo as you could only see her back and Ben was scowling in the direction of the photographers. 

Maybe she could put something together, but that was a thought for another week. Right now she had a dinner party to prepare for.

***

“Wow,” Rey said as she stared up at the house Ben had brought her to. “They live here?”

Ben nodded.

The house in question was four stories, including a basement, of white brick with large windows on every floor, a wrought iron fence and stairs leading up to the front door that was flanked by a couple of pillars.

“It’s like something out of Sherry Bobbins.” she said making him laugh. Ben may have been used to this but Rey was slightly intimidated. How rich did you have to be to afford a house like this and raise three children in Coruscant?

Ben rang the doorbell and before the front door was opened they could hear some muffled shouting from the other side.

“No I told you, Mummy and Daddy are having friends over and if you don’t stay upstairs, you’re not going to get your glitter magic unicorn.” There was the sound of someone stomping up some stairs.

The door opened to reveal Hux doing his best to mask the frustration he was obviously feeling because his child wouldn’t go to bed.

“Ben, Rey good evening. Come on in.”

It was nice and warm inside. The hallway was large and painted white. Rey and Ben added their shoes and coats to those already there and followed Hux to the kitchen. Rey fell behind, distracted by the many pictures that lined the walls. There were wedding pictures and baby pictures, pictures with grandparents and on holiday and at school. Rey felt a quick stab of jealousy. What would it have been like to grow up in a family and have photos to track milestones and achievements?

“Rey?” She was broken from her reverie to find three very tall people staring at her from the kitchen doorway.

“Sorry I got distracted by all the pictures.” she smiled nervously.

“Anyway, Rey, you’ve met Hux a couple of times before.” Ben was introducing them. Rey shook his hand. “And this is his wife Gwen.”

“So good to finally meet you. You know we were beginning to wonder if Benny Boy would ever get another girlfriend.” She gave him a playful nudge. Rey didn’t know what to say to that.

“Thanks Gwen.” Ben said sounding annoyed.

“Drinks!” Hux piped up to change the subject. “Let’s have a drink. We’ve been waiting all evening for you to arrive so we can have a drink.”

He sounded exhausted as he got out four wine glasses from a cupboard and a bottle of red wine from the wine rack that would go well with the roast beef that was filling the large kitchen with a wonderful smell.

“Long afternoon?” Ben asked.

“So long. We’ve had to bribe them to stay upstairs.”

“I don’t know how long it’s going to last though.” said Gwen. “We’ll probably have to bring Alfie down at some point. He hasn’t been very well all week.”

“I don’t mean to be awkward, but I don’t like red wine.” Rey cut in when she noticed Hux had already poured three glasses.

“Oh, OK.” Hux put the bottle down and looked around for an alternative. “Well we’ve got some white but it hasn’t been chilled. The hard stuff is over there.” He pointed to a high shelf that would be out of reach of tiny hands. Then he opened the fridge. “Or we have juice. Is that all we really have?” He turned to his wife who just shrugged.

“Juice is fine, thank you.” She didn’t even care what juice it was, she just wanted something to hold and focus her attention on.

“Why don’t you two go sit down while we get everything ready?” Gwen said after drinks were sorted.

The large kitchen table was already set for four, a set up that it wasn’t normally in as Rey could see a couple of booster seats and a high chair tucked in the corner.

She squealed slightly as she sat down on something hard under her seat cushion. Lifting it up, she found a blue dummy with a picture of a monkey on it. She chucked it into the sideboard so that it was out of the way and because it was kind of gross.

“See. I told you he was hiding them.” She heard Hux whisper before Gwen shushed him.

“This is the first time I’ve seen this place without toys everywhere in a long time.” Ben said putting his arm across the back of her chair to be reassuring.

“Ha. Nor will you again.” Gwen said bringing two plates of food over. “As soon as we put one toy away, another one would come out. That’s why this afternoon felt so long.”

The meal was one of the best that Rey had had in ages. Nothing beat a home cooked roast dinner.

Rey feared she would feel left out of conversation as Ben had been friends with Hux and Gwen for over ten years and she was by far the youngest with barely any life experience. Ben had eight years on her and they had a few more on him as well, but they found something to talk about which didn’t revolve around children, which she had thought was all parents could talk about.

By the end of their main course, Rey decided she liked them. Finn might think that Ben and Hux were evil, but that was probably just their corporate identities, not the relaxed family men she knew. She really needed to find a way to get him to let go of his prejudices.

Alfie started crying and was brought downstairs for cuddles just as they were starting the chocolate cheesecake they were having for pudding. The poor boy looked pale and clammy and he kept coughing.

“Poor baby. You must be really sick if you’re not trying to steal my pudding.” He had buried his head into Gwen shoulder as she gently rocked him while continuing to eat her cheesecake. Whatever was wrong with him obviously wasn’t too much of a concern.

Rey felt sorry for him, but at the same time couldn’t stop another stab of jealousy. How she wished she’d had someone to hold her when she got sick.

“I’ll go get the baby medicine.” Gwen said when she had finished eating and passed the baby off to her husband. Rey supposed he was still a baby even if he was nearly a year old and looked quite big.

Alfie momentarily protested but was too tired to continue and quick nuzzled into his father’s jumped.

“Uncle Ben!” Another small person had joined them.

“Hey kid. Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Ben said kindly to Alice as she bounded up to him in her light blue pyjamas and her red hair escaping its plait, for he knew that she was in trouble.

“Yes you should be.” her mother said sternly coming up to tower behind her.

“But Alfie got to come down.” the girl said innocently.

“We didn’t have a deal with Alfie and anyway, he’s sick. You’ve just lost your unicorn.”

“No that’s not fair.” Alice said turning on the water works. “You have cake and Ben.”

“Yes we do. Now back to bed.” Gwen was unmoved by tears and when she wouldn’t move of her own accord, picked Alice up to carry her upstairs. She started screaming that it wasn’t fair, making Rey wince and Alfie cry.

“I think that’s our cue to leave.” Ben said standing up and offering Rey his hand. She was astounded how quickly that had escalated.

“You can’t just leave us this mess.” Hux said trying to calm Alfie down.

“Yes we can. I’ve been doing it for nearly six years.”

They went out into the hallway to get their coats and shoes. Somehow, even over Alice’s screams and Alfie’s crying they could still hear Gwen shouting. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“You only said I had to stay upstairs and I’d get a transforming dinosaur, so I did.”

“No Mummy that’s not fair. You can’t give Bertie a toy and not me.”

Rey looked over at Ben to see what she should do, but he just looked like he was trying not to laugh at his friends’ misfortune.

“Well thank you for dinner, it was lovely. Say goodbye to Gwen for us.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hux limply waved them off. He looked about ready to bang his head against the wall.

“Shouldn’t we stay and help?” Rey said as she hurried after Ben as he walked back to the tube station.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re not our kids so they’re not our problem.” He wrapped an arm around her when she caught up with him. “But apart from that, did you have a nice time?”

“Yes. Dinner was so good.” They had come to a stop and were just cuddling outside the station. “Can you cook?”

“Yes, but it’s not the same when you’re only cooking for yourself.”

“As it’s my turn to choose what we do together, I know what I want to do.”

“And what’s that?”

“Next Friday I want to come home from work with you so you can cook me dinner.”

“Oh really.” It may have sounded more suggestive then she meant it, but oh well.

***

It seemed that Rose was more excited than Rey when she told her why she wouldn’t be going to after work drinks on Friday night.

“I’m so glad everything is going so well. Do you need me to pick anything up for you?” Rose said wiggling her eyebrows.

“Still not going to do it.” Rey said in a sing song kind of way.

“Oh come on.”

“But I do have a plan with regards to that.” She was a bit embarrassed to say that out loud.

“Really? Do tell.” Rose put her chin on her fist and leaned right in.

“Why would I tell you before the guy I’d actually be doing it with?” She had a feeling Rose was getting a little too invested in her love life.

“Do you guys really have to talk about this now?” Finn said stabbing at the salad he was having for lunch. They had actually forgotten he was there.

***

“It seems so weird getting off here.” Rey said to Ben as they got off the tube on Friday night. She held his hand tightly as they headed towards the exit. Ben’s station was still underground, not open air like her's was, so it was rather claustrophobic. “And you have to take a lift to get out of here. Do you ever take the stairs?” She felt sorry for him having to take a packed train then pack into a lift before he got back to the outside world.

“I have a couple of times, wouldn’t recommend it. This is the deepest station on the line you know.”

It felt good to get back outside. Rey was used to the cold, refreshing air hitting her as soon as she got off the train. Not that it was that cold now. Spring was nearly there and it was nearly time for Rey to put her winter coat away and go back to wearing her jacket.

“Do we need to get anything?” Rey asked nodding towards the small food store across the road.

“No, I got everything I needed yesterday and I prepared everything so it just needs to go in the oven.”

“Aren’t you organised?” She hugged his arm as he led the way back to his house.

“Well I didn’t want to spend the evening toiling away when we could be doing much more enjoyable things.” Rey didn’t respond to that, she didn’t know how.

The walk back to Ben’s was longer than she anticipated. It felt like it took half an hour but it was probably closer to ten minutes.

“Did you purposely choose to live as far from the station as possible?” She was a little out of breath as most of the journey had been up hill. Ben just laughed.

The area in which he lived was very nice. Pretty much all of the houses they passed were built before the houses on the same street were built from the same specification, so they had a charm to them, unlike where Rey lived.

Finally, when they got to what felt like the edge of town judging by the number of trees she could see, Ben pointed out the building where he lived. It was a very old mansion block of apartments with some very nice stone work around the doors and windows and some well kept landscaping around the edge of the residents car park.

“Very nice. Which floor are you on?” Rey asked staring up at the facade.

“Top floor.” Ben said cheerfully knowing his answer would annoy her.

“Of course you do.”

Rey was in awe by Ben’s apartment when they finally got up there. Every piece of furniture was sleek and stylish and it matched and she was only stood in one room. A room that was twice as big as the one she currently lived in, twice as big a any room she had ever lived in.

Ben was rather trusting when he let her go explore while he sorted out their dinner. She had never been to anyone else’s house before and she was very curious as to how other people lived.

It was a three bedroom apartment but one had been converted into a home gym and another into an office with a sofa in it. There was a large bathroom with a nice big bath that looked very appealing, and a utility room with a washer and dryer.

Then she found Ben’s actual bedroom. Rey stayed in the doorway as it seemed like an invasion of privacy to go in uninvited, but she did have a good look. She didn’t know whether to be impressed by how tidy everything was or shamed by it. For example, his bed with his dark sheets was neatly made, whereas her duvet was in a tangled heap.

“If it isn’t a stupid question, why do you need such a large apartment if it’s just you living here?” she asked as she came back to the kitchen table. She could smell that dinner was ready.

“I don’t know really. I guess that I’m just used to living in big houses. Sorry that was a rather entitled answer.”

“It’s alright.” She couldn’t begrudge him his answer at that moment as she had gotten distracted by the way he looked.

He had taken off his tie and suit jacket and had rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, showing for his forearms. His white shirt was pulled across his broad shoulders just so. He looked almost as good as the food he put down in front of her.

“Hope you like it.” Ben said as he poured her a glass of white wine that she vaguely remembered saying she would have. Rey shook her head to clear her mind and focused on her food. It did look delicious: Lamb meatballs with spicy tomato sauce and herby couscous.

“Ummm, this is really good.” Rey said with her mouth full.

“Glad you like it.” Ben said cheerfully, looking so much more sophisticated holding his glass of wine. “If you were cooking me dinner, what would you make?”

“I could probably do you some chicken nuggets and chips.” She had to laugh. “I’m not very good at cooking.”

“I could teach you if you want.” Ben said.

“Really? I’d like that.” Even if they didn’t work out, which was something that she didn’t want to consider, at least she would be gaining a skill.

“I’ve got pudding as well.” Ben said when they both finished. “Do you want it now or do you want to wait?”

“I’ll wait.” As delicious as dinner was there was rather a lot of it. Rey would have left some but she had a thing about not clearing her plate and wasting food. She would have to talk to Ben about portion sizes, she did not need to eat as much as he did.

He cleared their plates and left them by the sink. She reminded herself to offer to wash up later, and they took their drinks and went to sit on the very comfortable sofa.

They chatted for a bit but then because they hadn’t had much of an opportunity to do so, started making out. Rey couldn’t say who initiated it but she could tell it was something that they both wanted and she kicked herself for not asking to come over sooner. There was no way she’d ask him back to her shoe box of a room where the only real place to sit was the lumpy bed.

But this was nice. She was full and warm and she got to run her fingers through Ben’s soft hair. It would be perfect if his hands hadn’t started moving where she didn’t want them to be.

Rey gently pushed it back down to where she was more comfortable as she didn’t want to stop kissing to draw attention to it. He probably didn’t mean it, his hands were so big after all.

But then he started leaning into her, pushing her to lie down on the sofa and there was no mistaking his intentions. Nope, she thought loudly.

She got up so quickly that Ben couldn’t help but fall into the space where she was just sitting.

“So I was thinking,” she said as normally as possible. “That as it’s my birthday next month, we could go away for the weekend.”

“Yeah, yeah, we can do that.” he said slowly as if his brain was trying to catch up. He straightened himself up and tried to sort out his hair, she had made a bit of a mess of it. “Where do you want to go?”

“Naboo.”

Ben smiled. “That’s where I said I wanted to go. You wanted to go to Scarif.”

“I still do, but I feel that city breaks are better for a weekend away. So do you want to go?”

“Of course I do.”

“Good. I found a couple of really nice looking bed and breakfast places that I wanted you to look at and tell me what you think.” Rey started to go over to where she had left her bag to get her laptop.

“Or,” Ben said coolly. “I could get us a lake house.” Lake houses in Naboo were beautiful and massive and expensive.

“How?”

“I have family there. I’m sure they’d let us stay at their lake house for the weekend.”

Rey had to rack her brain to figure out who he meant. Then she remembered that Leia’s birth mother was from Naboo.

“Well in that case, if you don’t mind sorting it all out, that would be great. OK bye.” she said quickly grabbing her bags.

“Wait, Rey where are you going?” Rey sheepishly pointed towards the door. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No. It’s just,” she shrugged and picked at her fingernails for something to do. “I have a feeling that you want to do more than kissing.”

“God Rey no. Not if you don’t want to.” He jumped to his feet and gently took her in his arms.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she sighed and pressed herself against his firm flat chest. “Well firstly, it’s not the right time of the month to do that.”

“Oh,” He didn’t know what to say to that. Men never did. “And what’s the second reason?”

“You’re probably going to think I’m putting too much into this, but I want our first time to be special.” She put her chin on his chest to look up at him.

“Rey are you a -”

“No.” Why did everyone keep thinking that? “But I’ve only had sex once.”

“Why? What happened?” Ben asked, his concern clearly written on his brow.

“Do I have to?”

“Yes.” he said sternly. She probably should as his mind must have jumped to the worst possible conclusion which wasn’t true at all.

She sighed and sat back down. “At the end of my last year at uni, me and this guy were the only ones left in out flat waiting for graduation, and we started hanging out and everything. I don’t know how we got onto the topic, but we realised that we were both still virgins, so we decided why not, how hard could it be? So we got some condoms and went back to his room and -”

“And?”

“And it lasted about thirty seconds and I felt nothing, like there was literally nothing up there.” Ben burst out laughing. "It’s not funny.” She grabbed and hit him with a cushion.

“I’m sorry but you had me thinking the worst. What happened to him?”

“I was so embarrassed that I ignored him for two full weeks.”

“Poor guy, but rest assured I’m very confident that I can outlast him." Rey rolled her eyes at him as he smirked at her.

“Whatever. Your turn.” she said.

“For what?”

“I told you my embarrassing sex story, now you tell me one of yours.”

“No.”

“It’s only fair.” She looked at him with her big hazel eyes.

“Fine, but you can’t tell anyone.”

“I promise,” she said with her hand on her heart.

“I first met Hux and Gwen when they came to Alderaan for some overseas training. I was nineteen and they were a few years older but we got on and I thought they were cool.

“We went out drinking one night and got absolutely wasted. I don’t remember a lot but we all ended up in the same hotel room and I just passed out on the bed.

“I woke up some time later and the bed was bouncing but I wasn’t sure whether it was just my head so I rolled over and saw that they were full on going at it. I fell off the bed in my haste to get out of there.”

Rey tried to stifle her giggles but failed. “I thought you were going to say that you tried to join in.”

“No way. I was a super awkward nineteen year old.”

“Do you ever remind each other of that?”

“We used to, but then they got married and had children, so it’s just best to forget about it.”

They sat quietly for a minute digesting what they had both said. Rey cuddled up to Ben’s side, her legs draped over his.

“When actually is your birthday so I can get the right weekend.”

“Yeah, that would be useful. It’s the tenth.”

“Beginning of the four day weekend. Nice. I’ll sort it all out.” he moved so that he could get their drinks that had been left and forgotten on the coffee table. Rey whined as she had been in a comfortable position.

Ben handed her her glass and raised his own. “To Naboo then?”

“To Naboo.”


	8. April

“It’s so nice to do this without any time constraints.” said Rose as they exited the tube station and headed towards to shops. It was a Saturday morning and it was the first time Rey had been able to meet Rose to go shopping since both her parents and sister were on holiday.

“Yes, as long as you don’t make me buy any underwear this time.” said Rey.

“But you’re going away with your boyfriend and things are actually going to happen this time.” Rose whined.

“No. One I don’t see the point and two, I already have a set from last time.”

“You will see.” Rose smiled mischievously. “So what are we going to get?”

“Well, I want some sun dresses as it’s going to be warmer in Naboo than it is here, and I could wear one of them to Jess’ party.”

“The theme is spring so you could get away with literally anything with flowers on it.” Jess was having a gender reveal party at the end of the month. Rey didn’t see the point. Did it really matter whether the baby was a girl or a boy? But it was what Jess wanted to do so Rey would continue to support her friend.

“And then I’ll need shoes,”

“And handbags.” Rose chimed in.

“And I need a new suitcase. The one I have is literally falling apart.” Rey didn’t know how old the suitcase was but it was the one she had always used to transport all her worldly goods from place to place. “This is a bit much isn’t it?”

“No, if you want it and you can afford it, go for it. Think of it as a birthday present to yourself.”

“Ok.” She was an adult with some disposable income now, she just needed an enabler sometimes to get over her frugal nature. “Then after that I need to go to the comic book store.”

“Why?”

“Because there are two new Space Wars books that I need.” Rey was more excited by the books than the clothes. Rose was not.

“Do you really need more Space Wars book? Aren’t they all the same?”

“Rose! How dare you.” Rey said in mock outrage. “They are all wonderful and unique and each fills in a part of the universe.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you but only if you buy me lunch.”

Clothes shopping was a success. Rey got two dresses, a strapless pink one and a v-neck one with short sleeves that was covered in small multi coloured flowers, that she could wear for Jess’ party. She got some sandals that matched both of them and a couple of more casual outfits that were more grown up than her usual jeans and t-shirts.

She got a nice new little wheelie suitcase as well that everything was now inside. Rey was dragging it along behind her as it was easier that carrying it, but she was a bit self conscious that she would end up tripping someone over.

Rose didn’t look too impressed when they finally reached the comic book store, so Rey decided not to give her a tour and just went straight downstairs to where the books were.

Rey knew the store inside and out by now and headed straight for where she knew the Space Wars books would be. The new releases were right on top in prime position. The ones she wanted were the novelisation of the film, which had some extra scenes and points of view, and a book entirely about Officer Randolph; how he came into the Lord Commanders service, how he met Lady Kira and how their relationship started. Rey was very excited for both of them.

“Ok Rose. I’ll just pay for these then we’ll go for lunch.” She turned to the person stood slightly behind her but it wasn’t Rose. “Oh sorry.”

Where was Rose? Rey could have sworn she was right behind her when they had come downstairs.

“Rose.” she called quietly so she didn’t disturb the other customers. Not that it would really help her find Rose so she just wandered around looking down the different aisles.

“There you are.” She found Rose down an aisle looking at graphic novels. She was surprised to see how engrossed she was, she had to poke her to get her attention.

“Oh hey.” Rose jumped and quickly shoved the book back on the shelf.

“Find something?” Rey asked.

“No. It’s just me and my sister used to watch that show all the time when we were kids.” She looked at the cover longingly.

“Do you want it?”

“No.” Rose said but her eyes kept darting between Rey and the book.

“Ok. Well I’m going to pay for mine and then -”

“Ok I do want it and the sequel.” Rose grabbed both books and held them to her chest. “And what’s upstairs? You didn’t show me.”

Rey smiled to herself. It looked like Rose liked the comic book store after all. 

“Do I still have to buy you lunch?”

***

Rey stood in one of Coruscant’s main train stations waiting for Ben on the morning of her twenty third birthday. As it was the beginning of the four day weekend, the station was very busy and she was having trouble finding somewhere to stand where she wouldn’t be stood in the way, wouldn’t be jostled by other people and was somewhere where Ben could easily find her.

“Hey.” Rey jumped as Ben had appeared behind her and not from the direction she was expecting.

“Don’t do that.” She playfully hit him on the arm as he laughed. He was looking very good in a navy polo shirt and beige chinos. She couldn’t stay mad at him for long, especially when he came bearing drinks.

“Hope you like yours. It was called a Birthday Milkshake. It seemed like a sign so I had to get it.” He handed her a bright pink drink in a see through plastic cup topped with a mound of whipped cream and sprinkles.

It was very nice, tasted like liquid cake, it was very cold but it would fill her up until lunchtime.

“Do you want me to carry your bag?” he asked, already picking it up before she could answer.

“But then I can’t hold your hand.” Ben had brought a duffel bag which he had over his shoulder, and his own coffee in his other hand.

“Awww. I promise you can hold my hand all weekend if you let me be a gentleman right now.”

“I suppose I will allow it.” She grinned at him and they started to walk to their platform.

The train sitting there had nine carriages and Rey was fully prepared to walk the full length of the platform as that was where her seat usually was whenever she travelled by train. So there she was walking down the platform, happily drinking her milkshake when Ben called her back. She turned around to see that he had stopped next to one of the open carriage doors. Rey looked at the carriage then back at Ben.

“That’s first class.” She stated not understanding what he was getting at.

“Yes and we have first class tickets. Come on.” Ben got on and Rey scampered on after him. She had never travelled first class before, never ever thought she would, but if Ben was going to be taking her places, maybe it would become her reality.

The main difference between first class and standard was that every seat was at a table and there was an option to get a single seat. Rey and Ben were at a table for two so they didn’t have to sit next to or opposite anyone else.

“Comfy?” Ben asked as he stored their bags on the overhead rack. Rey was so glad she was with someone who could easily reach.

“Yes.” she said for what else could she say. The big leather seat was comfortable and there was quite a bit of space to move around but she couldn’t help missing the more confined space in standard class and she wanted to sit next to Ben so she could cuddle up to him. Though she suspected the extra space was why Ben would always choose first class.

“Do you mind if I sit and read my book?” she asked sweetly. She felt bad for asking as this was the first time they were going away together but she had just started the book about Officer Randolph and she liked to have something to distract her while travelling.

“Of course not. You enjoy your book.”

Rey got so invested in her book that she didn’t notice the ticket collector come through or when they were given complimentary drinks or the different places they were stopping at. It was such an engaging story and she was oblivious to the outside world, until she got to one part when she started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Rey looked up to see that Ben had put down his own book to look at her. He was wearing a pair of thin reading glasses. She didn’t know he needed them. She bet they looked so good when he was wearing a suit, but she was distracting herself.

“It’s nothing. It’s just,” her voice dropped to a whisper and she leaned forward. “There’s a sex scene in the book.”

Ben tried not to laugh but still smiled. “Surely you’re not scandalised. You read fan fiction after all.”

“Yes but these books never bring it up and I guess I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Is it a good one at least?” Rey kicked him under the table for his cheeky question that she wasn’t going to answer in public. He pretended to be hurt.

“What are you reading anyway?” she asked.

“The Rise and Fall of the Old Republic: Volume Three.” He lifted it up to show her the cover. It was a very, very thick book and on a topic Rey had no interest in, but she would try for Ben, a little bit at least.

“How many volumes are there?”

“Nine.”

“Nine! That sounds like hard going.”

“How else do you propose telling a thousand years of history?” Ben set his book down and took off his glasses. Yes, Rey thought, I need to see him do that with a suit on.

“I know you read nothing but Space Wars.” he started saying.

“I read those Texas Jack books you gave me. They were awesome.”

“Good, but I think I’ve found the book for you that has nothing to do with either franchise.”

“What is it?” Rey wasn’t very aware of what other books were out there so she appreciated Ben’s help.

“I think I’ll wait until I actually know you’re going to read it.”

“Well I’m on my last couple of books and there aren’t any new ones coming out for a while. So give me a couple of weeks.”

“Good. I’m sure you’ll like it.” They turned to look out the window, something Rey hadn’t done all journey. She was beginning to see the waterways, the sandy coloured stone building and the green domed roofs that Naboo was famous for. They were nearly there.

They were met at the station by a man who would drive them to the marina and give them the keys. He introduced himself as JJ, short for Jar Jar Binks the third, and he worked for the Neberri family just like his father and grandfather before him. He and Ben sat talking in the front of the convertible while Rey sat in the back admiring the scenery.

She was a little surprised that they were being dropped off at the marina, but she just followed Ben as he seemed to know where they were going.

“Why are you getting into a boat?” Rey asked, her feet very unsteady on the dock.

“Because there are no roads to the lake house. It’s surrounded by nature and water.” He easily lifted her into the small but sleek vessel.

“Do you know how to drive a boat?”

“Of course I do. Do you really think I’d let JJ leave if I didn’t?”

“Fair enough Captain Solo. Anchors away, or whatever this boat does.” she said giving him a mock salute.

Rey thought that travelling by boat would be quite glamorous but in reality not so much. Her hair was blowing all over the place and she had to fold the skirt of her dress under her legs to stop it flying up. She didn’t know how models made it look so effortless.

She was jealous that by the time they got to the lake house, her hair was an absolute mess but Ben’s windswept locks still looked good.

“Well here we are.” Ben said as he unlocked the front door. The lake house was a gorgeous seven bedroom villa with a light and airy open plan kitchen, dining and living room. There was a balcony on one side facing the lake and another on the other side with views of the mountains and waterfalls.

“Have you been here before?” Rey asked as she followed Ben up the grand staircase.

“Not it a very long time.” Ben went straight for the guest bedroom that was ready for their use.

“And are you expecting to see any of your family while we’re here?” Without really thinking Rey sat down to test the bed and immediately melted into it. It was like lying on a cloud and felt so good after a morning of travelling and the sorry excuse for a bed she had at home.

“No they’ve all gone away. It’s just us.” He joined her on the bed making the mattress dip.

Ben pulled her to him and held her in a grasp that was both strong and loving. He gazed at her with his expressive eyes and Rey could tell exactly what he wanted. She wanted it too, just not right now.

She pushed him away the tiniest amount. “Can we wait until later? I have a feeling if we start now we’ll never get anything done.”

“Is that really a bad thing?” he asked leaning in for a kiss. She gave him a short quick one instead of the long passionate one he had in mind.

“Yes. I want to tell people I did stuff this weekend, you know other than you.” She sat up laughing.

“Very well. What do you want to do?” Ben asked leaning up on his elbows.

“We could have a picnic for lunch.” Rey walked over to the window to admire the view. “Though we don’t have any food do we?”

“Don’t worry, I asked for the kitchen to be fully stocked. There should even be a birthday cake for you.”

Rey smiled. She hadn’t had a birthday cake in a very long time, they only did them for the very small kids at the care home.

It also reminded her of something she had to share with Ben.

“Before we go, there’s someone I want you to meet.” She opened her suitcase and pulled something out. “This is Porgi.” She made his little wing wave at Ben. “I know it may seem weird for me to still carry around a cuddly toy, but he’s been with me through everything and I couldn’t just leave him behind.”

Ben hadn’t shown any reaction which got Rey a bit worried, but then he smiled. “No wonder you like Porg Island so much. You have the original porg.”

“I mean he’s not as cute as Percy and Penny and I have no idea where he came from, but he’s mine.”

“And that’s all that matters.”

They packed up some food and headed out across the meadow at the back of the house towards a secluded lake Ben knew. It was too far to walk to the waterfalls but they offered a beautiful backdrop.

The weather was lovely. The sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was just the right temperature to sit outside and not be too hot or too cold.

They sat in the soft glass at the edge of the lake to have their picnic. They had a kiss and a cuddle and paddled in the shallows. The water was freezing but Ben said it was perfect to swim in in the height of summer. She’d have to believe him as she barely knew how to swim.

As they started back to the house Rey decided to make Ben give her a piggyback. It was her birthday after all.

It was mid afternoon by the time they got back to the house, too early for dinner so they decided to have some cake. Whoever had bought it had also bought some candles but Ben had to hunt around for a lighter.

“Don’t you find the concept of birthday candles weird?” she said digging in to her slice. It was a vanilla sponge with chocolate buttercream frosting. “I mean we eat a cake that has pretty much just been spat on.”

“Best not to think about it. It ruins the birthday magic.”

“Speaking of birthday magic. Did you get me a present or is the whole weekend my present?”

“I thought I was your present. You get to unwrap me whenever you want.” Rey started laughing, very hard and very loud. She was glad she didn’t have any cake in her mouth or she would have choked.

“Sorry that was awful. I’ll never say something as tacky again.” He was a bit embarrassed by what he just said. Rey was having trouble breathing, she couldn’t stop laughing at poor Ben.

“I was going to get you something when we go into town.” he said bashfully.

“It’s ok.” Rey said finally regaining her composure and wiping the tears out of her eyes. “I wouldn’t mind my present now.”

Ben perked up. “Really?”

“I mean, we’ve done something we can tell other people about and it’s still too early for dinner. Unless you want to go into town?”

“No quiet evening in is fine by me.” he said and he gathered her up to carry her upstairs before she could say anything else.

As soon as he set her down in the bedroom, Ben’s mouth was on hers. She was on her tiptoes so she could reach and she was glad he was holding her so tightly against him as his hot deep kisses were making her dizzy, she would surely have fallen over.

Rey was able to think and breathe more clearly when Ben moved down to kiss her neck. His hair was tickling her nose.

“Can we just do one more thing before we get started?”

Ben stopped what he was doing and looked at her, his pupils wide with longing. “And what’s that?”

“Can we have a quick shower?” She felt a bit gross from travelling and being outside and there was nothing better than the feeling of clean sheets when you were clean yourself.

“Together?” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“No. For one thing I have no idea how the logistics of that work.”

“Fine but be quick.”

She nabbed their en suite leaving Ben to find another bathroom to use, not that it would be difficult, the place was huge.

Rey pinned up her hair so it wouldn’t get wet and scrubbed her whole body clean with fruity smelling moisturising body wash. She felt so much better afterwards. Then she brushed her teeth to complete the clean feeling.

She had grabbed a few other things besides her wash bag before she came into the bathroom and now she was contemplated whether to wear them. First was a short and silky white and blue robe that had matching pyjamas and the second was the set of lacy black lingerie that Rose had insisted she buy the first time they went shopping.

She had no doubt that Ben would like them, men tended to, but Rose had said they were also a confidence burst, which was something she could do with.

What’s the harm, thought Rey, it if looks terrible they’ll be coming off soon enough anyway.

So Rey put on the nicest looking pieces of underwear she had ever owned, slipped on the robe, took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.

Ben was already sat on the end of the bed waiting for her, wearing just a white towel around his waist. Rey was momentarily frozen at the sight of him. Never had she imagined that he would look like a marble statue. Sure she knew he was solid but he somehow looked even bigger without clothes on and she was tiny in compassion.

“Hey.” he said.

“Hey.”

“You alright?” he asked looking a little concerned, though it was hard to take him seriously when he was only wearing a towel.

“Yes, you just look really good.” she said out loud making him laugh.

“Come here.” Ben held out his hand and she went and sat next to him on the bed. “You seem nervous. Do you still want to do this?”

“Yes, of course I do. It’s just,” she paused to find the right words. “I suppose it’s like when you’re waiting to go on a roller coaster. You work yourself up a bit in the queue, but once you’ve ridden it you think back and wonder why you were making such a fuss and you just want to do it again.”

“Great analogy.” Ben laughed.

“As long as the ride lasts more than thirty seconds and makes me feel something.” Rey added in a mock serious tone.

“No pressure then.” He brought her in for a side hug.

“But I really, really like you so I have a feeling it will be much better.” She moved so she could rest her head on his shoulder. “You don’t mind using condoms do you? I know some guys don’t like them.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think Rey. We both don’t want the consequences and if that’s the form of protection you want to use, we’ll use it.”

“How did I get so lucky?” she said kissing him tenderly on the cheek. She was pleased to see that he had had a quick shave.

Rey stepped back from the bed, undid her robe and let it slowly slip off her shoulders into a pile at her feet. She bit back a laugh as she saw the way Ben was looking at her. She was only laughing because she found the situation a bit absurd, but he didn’t deserve to be laughed at when he was looking at her with such awe, like she was a goddess and he would kneel at her feet and worship her.

“Like what you see?” she said in what she hoped was a seductive tone. She turned and looked back over her shoulder at him. All Ben could do was nod and hum his response. Rey liked the reaction, it gave her confidence for what she would do next. Damn Rose for being right!

She bounded up to him, straddled his thighs and kissed him as deeply and as passionately as she could. It was a long while before either of them said anything coherent.

***

They managed to drag themselves out of bed long enough to make it into town. The boat ride had once again messed up her hair but Rey didn’t care she was so happy. Ben made good on his promise and held her hand the whole time they were out, both of them wanted to remain as close as possible.

For her birthday present, Ben took her to a small family owned jewellers and told her she could have anything she wanted. That could have been dangerous but Rey liked the simple things and she didn’t see the point in buying something she’d be too scared to wear, so she got a necklace with a dainty gold plated daisy charm that suited her very well.

Then Ben took her to a place that was very special to him. In the Naboo Cathedral was the tomb of Padme Amadarla, Ben’s grandmother who he never knew.

Her likeness was beautifully carved in marble for all to see and even though it was made of such a hard material there was a softness about her, in her hair, in her dress and in her peaceful expression.

“She was beautiful.” Rey said quietly. They had been stood by her for a while in quiet reflection.

“Yes she was. She was also kind and brave and smart and forgiving. I wish she would have lived. I feel like she would have understood me.” Rey wrapped herself around his arm and gave it a comforting squeeze.

***

The weekend had been wonderful but like all good things it had to come to an end and Rey and Ben got on the train back to Coruscant on Monday afternoon.

They were sat in pretty much the same seats as last time and once again Rey wished they were sat next to each other rather than opposite. It had only been a couple of days but she had gotten used to having him so near, she didn’t know how she would cope when they got back home.

She couldn’t concentrate on her book like she had on the journey down. She kept peaking up over the top of it to take a look at Ben. Rey smiled softly to herself when she noticed he was doing the same thing.

All too soon they were back in Coruscant and on the tube home, which was luckily still running on the bank holiday. It was back to work tomorrow which most people weren’t looking forward to, but Rey was dreading Ben getting off at his stop and leaving her to go home alone.

She knew she was probably being a bit clingy, but this was all so new to her, she hadn’t figured out how to act normal yet.

They were approaching Ben’s stop when he said the words she was longing to hear. “Do you want to come home with me?”

She jumped at the chance to extend her weekend just a little bit more.

***

“So, how was it?” Rose crept up on Rey seemingly out of nowhere. Not that she was surprised, she knew her friend would seek her out.

Rey just grinned and took a sip of her coffee. She had been smiling all morning, even though she and Ben had been reluctant to untangle themselves to get out of bed and then again outside the office building so they could both go to work, but she was going to see him at lunch so it wasn’t all bad.

“Come on, you’ve got to tell me something. Is he a generous lover? Is he proportional?” Rey smirked, she wasn’t going to answer those questions even though the answers were yes.

“You’re happy so I can only assume it was good, and isn’t that one of the outfits you bought when I was with you?”

Rey looked down at her outfit, which consisted of a pair of navy capris and a blue floral top. She had only worn it briefly when they were away so it didn’t need washing, and she thought it was the most suitable of the clothes she had with her to wear to work.

“It is but I didn’t want to go home alone after such a perfect weekend.”

Rose squealed and hugged her. Rey managed to get her mug out of the way in time before anything got spilt. “I’m so happy for you.”

***

“I was thinking.” Ben said as they were sat in his apartment watching a film. “That you really ought to meet Bertie and Alice.”

“Really?” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. They were a big part of Ben’s life after all, but she was a bit apprehensive. She had enough trouble making friends with adults, let alone children, and Alice seemed like a nightmare.

“It’s Alfie’s birthday next weekend and we thought it might be a good time to meet the children.”

“Who’s we?” she asked.

“Gwen and Hux. They get to decide who they let near their children.”

“Of course.” She thought back on the conversation she’d had with Hux in the pharmacy and how Rose was sometimes. “Do you talk to them about me? Do you give any details about what we do, to Hux in particular?”

Luckily he got what she was on about. “No but he can infer things, he’s not an idiot and I’ve been really good mood lately.”

She cuddled up closer to him. She was glad to know that she made him as happy as he made her.

“Ok. I’ll go to a child’s birthday party.”

“Good. Although it’s not much of a party. It’ll just be us and we’ll only have dinner and a cake. He is only one.”

“I can do that.”

“But Alice’s birthday is a couple of weeks later and she is having a party, so -”

“So, hope this goes well so I can go to that.”

“Exactly.”

***

“I thought you said they weren’t having a party.” Rey said when she met Ben at the tube station so they could go to the Huxes’ together. She had been spending most nights at Ben’s and had to remember to take an overnight bag with her so she had something suitable to wear to work, but she had kind of forgotten about meeting the children and hadn’t bought anything to wear so had to go back to her house to find something.

Rey had settled on a pair of grey skinny jeans, a navy top and a loose charcoal cardigan. It looked nice and allowed her to move around if needed. She made sure to pull all her hair up into her usual three buns. Ben had called it strange but he had assured her he meant strange in a cute way. Rey didn’t mind, she liked doing her hair this way and it meant that it was out of the way and couldn’t be pulled by little hands.

“They’re not.” Ben said and kissed her forehead.

“Then why are you bringing presents?” They both looked down at the bag he was carrying containing a neatly wrapped box.

“Because it’s still his birthday even if he doesn’t know one day from the next.” He went to tickle her. That was the worst thing about the last couple of weeks for Rey, Ben had discovered all her ticklish spots. “Are you really so cruel that you’d deny a child presents on his birthday?”

“No. Stop.” Rey squealed and tried to get out of his reach. They were in public and maybe a tube platform wasn’t the best place to cause a scene.

The Hux house looked even nicer in the day. The sun brightened to white walls and the cherry trees out front were in bloom giving a nice pop of colour.

“You ready?” Ben turned to her before he rang the doorbell.

“No.” Not that it would make any difference, they were here now.

The door was answered by Gwen holding the birthday boy. Alfie was looking so much better than the last time she’d seen him. His face was a healthy colour and his big blue eyes lit up when he saw Ben. He even gave her a clumsy wave with a chubby arm when he saw her.

“Right you better come in.” Gwen made her way down the hallway after taking the present from Ben. Alfie kept peaking over her shoulder at them, playing his own game. Rey kind of wished it was just him. He seemed really cute.

“Alice, Bertie, Ben’s here.” Gwen called. It wasn’t very loud so they must have been in one of the downstairs rooms. Rey didn’t know the geography of the house having only just seen the kitchen last time she was there.

Rey slipped off her shoes and stayed back as the two children came barrelling into the hallway straight into Ben’s arms.

“Hey you two.” he said.

“Did you bring me a present Uncle Ben?” Alice asked sweetly.

“No, you’ve still got two weeks until you birthday.”

“But that’s ages away.” she whined.

“My birthday’s even more ages away.” said Bertie. This was the first time she had properly seen Bertie. He looked like a mini version of Hux, their hair was even styled the same way and he looked adorably smart in his shirt and shorts combo.

“Well mine is even further away.” Ben said joining in. If Rey were to join in she’d say her birthday was the furthest away as she had to wait nearly a full year.

“Who’s that?” Alice asked when they finally spotted her.

Ben stood up and came over so he could hold her hand. “Alice, Bertie, this is my girlfriend Rey.”

“Hello.” she said trying not to let her nervousness show through her smile.

“Hi,” Bertie said cheerfully with his own big gap toothed smile. It would have made Rey feel a lot better if Alice wasn’t stood right next to him looking at her like she was thoroughly unimpressed.

“Rey’s a boys name.” she said.

“It is, but I spell it differently and it’s short for Rachel.”

“Then why don’t we call you Rachel?”

“Because I don’t want to be called Rachel.” she said calmly, squeezing Ben’s hand for support. Alice didn’t seem totally convinced, but luckily her brother was there to help.

“Yeah. My name’s Albert but I don’t want to be called Albert. I’m Bertie.”

“Exactly Bertie. Thank you.” She knew who her favourite was already. Alice grunted her concession to the argument she had started but continued to glare at Rey. She wondered if Ben had noticed or not as he didn’t say anything.

“Why don’t you guys go find a game to play while we finish cooking?” Gwen said standing behind her two older children.

“Ok,” Bertie said taking Rey’s other hand so he could take her to where the games were.

“I want to play with Uncle Ben.” Alice said stroppily.

“All go play together please.” her mother said.

“No.” She stomped her foot. Great, Rey thought as Ben gave in and went to play with Alice to stop her having a tantrum, while she went to play a game with Bertie on her own.

She quickly said hello to Hux who was in the kitchen cooking as Bertie led her through the to another room, the playroom.

Rey had never seen anything like it. The playroom was probably as big as the room that she rented. There were shelves and baskets and drawers along one wall to hold most of the toys and books and games, a miniature kitchen with lots of plastic food in the corner, a tiny table and chairs, beanbags, cushions and a play mat, and number and letter posters on the wall.

My God, thought Rey. These children don’t know how good they’ve got it.

She noticed that Bertie was struggling to get a game out from the middle of the pile. She went over to help him before he brought the whole shelf down on top of him.

“Thank you.” he said.

“You’re welcome. Now what are we going to play?” Rey looked at the box; Snakes and Ladders. She could play that. A nice game that was more luck than strategy, this wouldn’t be so bad.

“You don’t scream when you lose do you? Alice screams when she loses.” Bertie said as he set the board up on the tiny table.

“I can imagine.” Rey mumbled. “No I won’t scream. And who says I’m going to lose?” She perched herself on the tiny plastic chair, luckily it was quite sturdy, as sitting on the floor meant she was a bit too low.

They started playing. Bertie took the red piece, Rey took the blue. It was rather pleasant. Bertie was a good sport and counted the spaces he moved out loud and didn’t try and cheat by missing out the snake squares. He even made noises like he was going down a slide whenever one of them did land on a snake.

“Are you our auntie Rey?” asked Bertie after a bit.

“What?” Rey said surprised by his question.

“Aunties are married to uncles.”

“But me and Ben aren’t married.”

“Are you going to?” He looked at her with his big blue eyes. Rey hadn’t really thought about it. Sure she and Ben had a lot of fun together and they really liked each other, but marriage seemed a long way off.

“I don’t know, we’ve only been together a couple of months. Why do you ask?”

“I just don’t know what to call you.” He seemed upset by that. After all, he called every other adult in his life by some type of title.

“It’s ok. You can just call me Rey I don’t mind. No one will mind.”

“Ok Rey.” he said more cheerfully.

They carried on playing their game until Gwen popped her head round the door. “How are things in here?”

“We’re good Mummy.” Bertie said and Rey nodded her agreement.

“Well dinner’s nearly ready so come take your seats.”

“But we’re not finished Mummy.” he moaned. He was on square seventy four, Rey was on sixty eight.

“You can finish after tea, just remember whose turn it is.”

Rey was glad to trade the tiny chair for a normal one and to see Ben again even though it had only been twenty or so minutes and she was actually having fun with Bertie.

“How’s it going?” Ben asked her as she took the seat next to him.

Bertie piped up before she could answer. “I’m winning.”

“You’re only six spaces ahead, I could easily catch up.” she teased him. She was starting to really like him. She just wished he was sat opposite her instead of Alice who was still glaring at her.

“You’re in my seat.” Alice said.

“Oh,” Rey said. She didn’t know if she should offer to swap places. Somehow, she still didn’t think that would make the girl like her.

“It doesn’t matter Alice. We always have to shuffle round when we have more people for dinner.” Hux interjected as he started serving up plates of food. They were having roast chicken with mashed potato, vegetables and gravy. It smelled delicious and Rey was really looking forward to it.

“But I always sit next to Uncle Ben.” she whined.

“Well today you’re sitting next to me.” If it seemed like her father wouldn’t give into her then Rey wouldn’t either. Although she suspected that if Alice’s legs were longer she would probably be kicked in the shins by now. “Now stop scowling and eat your chicken.”

Gwen tried to lessen the tense atmosphere by talking about Porg Island as the children and Rey both liked it. A sensible move to find something they had in common but Alice reminded them that Uncle Ben had made the show for them and about them, and that she was Penny.

Rey had to stop herself from saying that Penny was a brat who had problems sharing but at least she learnt her lesson by the end of the episode.

They sat in silence for a moment before Alice said sulkily. “Uncle Ben did your hair.”

“No he didn’t. I did my own hair.” she said defending herself.

“No he did my hair like that.” she said stabbing her carrots.

“You do her hair?” Rey turned to Ben.

“Sometimes. Gwen will be the first to admit that she has no idea what she is doing.”

“It’s true.” Gwen was trying to feed Alfie and herself at the same time, but he wanted to feed himself and things were getting messy at that end of the table.

“And in Alderaan, hair braiding is a tradition so I learnt.” Ben shrugged.

“How come you’ve never done my hair then?” Rey asked. She’d seen how Princess Leia had her hair done and longed to know how it was possible.

“I’ll tell you later.” he muttered. She didn’t know why but she glanced up at Hux and he seemed to know.

Rey had said it before and she would say it again; Nothing beat a home cooked roast dinner, and it would be so nice to have a roast dinner as a family if one member wasn’t being such a little madam.

“Rey, do you like broccoli?” Alice asked sweetly for once making it the nicest thing she had ever said to her.

“Yes I do.” She knew that broccoli wasn’t everyone’s favourite vegetable, but she had learned long ago not to be picky and not to waste food.

“Good, you can have mine.” She pushed her little plastic plate across the table so violently that Rey had to catch her glass before her juice spilled all over her.

“Right that’s it.” Hux said crossly. He got up from the table and grabbed his daughter’s arm. “We need to have a talk in the other room.”

“Nooo.” Alice cried as she was dragged away, trying all the while to escape. Rey felt no sympathy towards her but now things were a bit awkward.

“Ben can you watch Alfie? I’m going to help Armie.” Gwen said getting up.

“Yeah sure.” Ben said with barely concealed anger. Looks like he didn’t like Alice’s behaviour either.

“Are you alright?” he asked Rey softly.

“I’m fine.” She gave him a weak smile and Ben gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Do you want to finish our game now Rey?” Bertie asked.

“Might as well.” Rey sighed. It was either that or watch Alfie happily smash food everywhere but his mouth. In truth she had no idea how much longer they would be staying after Alice’s outburst.

“Is she always like this?” Rey asked Bertie as she settled back into the tiny chair.

“She thinks Uncle Ben is all hers and she doesn’t like it when he talks to other girls. We once couldn’t get ice cream because there was a girl in the van.” Bertie said. Great, Rey thought, absolutely great.

They continued playing. Rey went into the lead after Bertie went down a snake on the second to last row.

“One, two, three. I win.” she said as she got to square one hundred.

“But you rolled a five. You have to bounce back two squares to make five.”

“That’s not a rule.”

“Yes it is. You have to get the right number to win.”

“But that means -”

Bertie grabbed her piece and moved it. “One, two, weee.” Down the snake she went, the longest on the board, right back to square number four.”

“Great.” she said. She was certain that wasn’t a proper rule but she had to be a good sport regardless.

Before they could continue their game, Alice came stomping in and sat rather inelegantly on a bean bag with her arms crossed and shoulders hunched.

“Mummy and Daddy said I need to say sorry but I don’t want to.”

“That’s good to know Alice.” Rey said sarcastically even though sarcasm would be lost on a three year old.

“I hate them. I wish they weren’t here. Then I could do whatever I wanted.”

“That’s it.” Rey could take Alice being mad at her for supposedly taking away Ben, but she wouldn’t sit and listen to someone wish away their parents. “You have no idea how lucky you are to have your parents, your brothers, this house, all these toys. I had none of that and I can’t sit here while you act like this.”

Alice was a bit wide eyed about being shouted at by someone who wasn’t one of her parents.

“Why?” asked Bertie.

“What?” she said to him in a calmer tone, she wasn't mad at him.

“Why didn’t you have parents or brothers or a house or toys?”

Rey sighed. Before she had moved to Coruscant, she hardly told anyone her story now it seemed like she was telling everyone she met.

“My parents died in a car crash when I was no older than Alfie. I had no one else to look after me, no grandparents, no rich childless uncles, so I got sent to live in a home with all the other children who had no one else to look after them. We were all living there waiting to see if some kind person would want us to come live with them, but no one wanted me so I lived in the home until I was old enough to go live on my own.”

“Poor Rey.” Bertie said looking sad. Alice was still trying to look like she was in a sulk but Rey could tell she was getting through to her.

“I always wanted a family. So when I moved to Coruscant and I started making friends and I met Ben, it finally felt like I had found that.” She addressed Alice directly. “That’s what this is about isn’t it, you think I’m going to take Ben away from you?”

Alice nodded and Rey could see her bottom lip start to tremble. “Well I’m not. I know you guys are a big part of his life and now I am too and I’m happy for you to still hang out, but not if you’re going to keep treating me like the enemy. Especially since I’ve done nothing except trying to live my life and find happiness.”

“I’m sorry Rey.” Alice said wrapping her little arms around Rey’s neck and crying onto her shoulder, almost unbalancing her on the tiny chair.

“It’s ok.” She looked over at Bertie who looked like he wanted to join in. “Come on, you can have a hug too.”

In retrospect, she should have gotten off the chair as they ended up in a heap on the floor.

“Hurrah, she apologised.” Rey looked up to see Ben, Hux and Gwen holding a much cleaner looking Alfie stood in the doorway. She didn’t know how long they’d been standing there or what they’d heard but Ben looked at her proudly.

“Right time for cake.” Gwen said. Bertie got up quickly and ran into the kitchen eager for cake, but Alice stayed while Rey got up off the floor.

“You get to play with me now when the boys don’t want to.” Rey couldn’t work out whether that was meant to sound sinister or not, but at least it was an improvement.

“So will I be invited back do you recon?” Rey said as they walked to the tube station hand in hand after having a slice of caterpillar cake. Alfie once again managed to get it everywhere.

“It was never a matter of whether you’d be going back, it’s whether I would. If they didn’t like you, I would choose you over them.”

“Aww Ben, but they’ve been your friends for ten years, would you really just abandon them?”

“Luckily I won’t have to now but it goes back to what you said about finding a family. It’s nice to be part of theirs but I need to find my own and have my own life.”

They kissed on the corner of the street under a cherry tree, with blossom falling all around them.

“Umm, you taste like cake.” Rey said making Ben laugh.

“When we get home, what do you want as a reward for such a trying day?”

Rey thought about it for a moment. She didn’t feel like doing anything physical. “I want you to do my hair.”

“Really?” He was surprised by her request.

“Yes. Why haven’t you done it before if you’re so skilled?”

“Traditionally doing someone’s hair is a bonding activity between say parent and child, but taking someone’s hair down,” he undid the bottom of her three buns. “Is a sign of intimacy.”

“Is that so?” she said as he undid the middle one.

“Yes and we’re taught to only let those we trust and care for the most undo our hair.” Ben undid the last bun and combed his fingers through her loose hair.

“Should I really be letting up do this in public?”

***

It took Rey a while but she eventually found when Jess lived. It wasn’t in a part of town she had ever been to before and she had to take two unfamiliar tube line to get there. Most people would have saved time and used a ride-hailing service, but Rey felt safer taking public transport rather than a strangers car.

“Thank God you’re here.” Rose grabbed her as soon as she walked through the door of the three bedroom apartment Jess shared with her sister. “I have absolutely no idea who any of these people are.”

Rey scanned the room full of strangers. As far as she knew they were the only ones here from work.

“Oh well, just means we’ll have to stick together, and hopefully we can slip out once the balloon had been popped.” She nodded at the big black balloon that was floating at the edge of the living room, protected by a circle of chairs so no one could get too close and accidentally pop it.

“Rey, you finally made it.” Jess came up to her and gave her a hug. She was wearing a tight yellow dress that showed off her tiny baby bump. At work she continued to wear baggy clothes to hide her growing belly so it was nice to see her embrace it.

“Sorry I’m late. It took me longer to get here than I thought.”

“Doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t start without you, you know. You’re special as you’re the first one who knew about the baby.”

“Lucky me.” Rey said faking a smile that Jess didn’t pick up on.

“Anyway, help yourself to some food and drink. They’re non alcoholic obviously.”

Rey and Rose went into the kitchen where the food was. There wasn’t a very big selection but as far as Rey could tell, this wasn’t meant to be a very long party.

In between the plates of tiny sandwiches and blue and pink iced cupcakes was pink and blue glitter, pink and blue flowers, and pink and blue cuddly bunnies. Even the plates and napkins were pink and blue.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit much?” Rey asked Rose when they’d found a quick corner to eat their sandwiches and cake. She didn’t want to be overheard as she didn’t know how Jess’ friends would react if they heard what she had to say, but she knew she was safe with Rose.

“I mean there’s all this talk about gender neutrality and not forcing gender roles and yet we’re celebrating this.”

Rose shrugged. “Society is made up of hypocrites. Someone’s always going to be out to get you when you’re trying your best to get by. As far as I’m concerned if a child wants to play with a doll or a train, just let them.”

“Well put. Now, what do you think she having?” Rey asked.

“Girl. I’m pretty good at guessing. I got all my cousins’ kids correct.”

“Ok everybody, it’s time.” someone, she must have been Jess’ sister, called and they all shuffled towards the living room so they could see the balloon.

“We’ll soon see.” Rey muttered to Rose. She also thought it was a girl, but she had a sad feeling Jess wouldn’t be happy if it was a boy.

Jess was making an emotional speech but Rey got distracted part way through by a man wearing a very loud shirt and way too much cologne.

Then the balloon was popped and everyone cheered as pink confetti went everywhere. Jess screamed with joy and Rey wondered if her reaction would have been the same if the confetti was blue.

With that, the party was over and they were free to go. Rey wondered what she should do now for the rest of the day. She was already with Rose, maybe they could go hang out somewhere. Or she could call Ben and they could go somewhere, or all three of them could. He did say that he was happy to meet her friends and meeting Rose would be a good place to start.


	9. May

“Are you sure what I’m wearing will be ok?” Rey looked down at her red wrap dress with white polka dots.

“It’s a child’s birthday party. No one’s going to care unless you look like a complete slob or a complete slut.” said Ben. It was easy for him to say, he couldn’t really go wrong with what he was wearing; dark jeans, a plain t-shirt and a jacket.

They were on their way to Alice’s fourth birthday party and Rey was a bit anxious about how the girl would react, even though she thought they had come to an understanding, this was the first time they were meeting since.

“I just don’t want to end up having to crawl around after a million four year olds.”

“Don’t worry.” Ben said giving her a side hug as they walked. “It’s only going to be a couple of hours and Gwen is making them do quiet, sit down activities, and Alice only has three friends coming over so we won’t be outnumbered.”

“How come? Doesn’t she have any friends?” It was a bit mean, and sad, to think it, but Rey could see Alice rubbing children her own age the wrong way.

“It’s not that. Neither Alice or Bertie are having very big parties this year because they’re going to Dreamworld at the beginning of the summer holidays. They don’t know yet so don’t tell them.”

“Lucky them.” She always remembered looking longingly at the adverts for Dreamworld as a child. She had wanted to go to the theme park so badly, but she knew that was never going to happen.

“It’s actually the perfect time to go. Under sevens go free so Hux and Gwen are just paying for themselves.

“Have you been?” Rey asked.

“Once.” Ben said. “Uncle Lando took me when I was eight, said Han would meet us there but he never showed.” Ben looked down at his feet as he relived the disappointment. Rey felt so sorry for him. He suddenly perked up like he didn’t want to think about it anymore. “As a consolation, the park’s mascot, Mr Jumbo, went round with us all day.”

“How’d you manage that?” Rey asked thinking if Ben was going to focus on the more positive thing, then so was she.

Ben just shrugged. “The park was less busy back then I guess. It was really cool at the time, but thinking back on it, it was a bit creepy. Have you ever been?”

Rey snorted. “Obviously not. The closest I’ve been is the rusty fun fair on Jakku seafront.”

“Do you want to go?” he asked.

“Yeah of course I do. But I don’t think I can being childless and all.”

“I know three we could borrow.” Rey shuddered. Now that would be a disaster. Ben laughed at her reaction. “But that doesn’t matter, there’s plenty for adults to do and no children means that we get to do what we want to do.”

“Ben Solo, are you asking me to go to Dreamworld with you?” she asked in mock surprise.

“Maybe.” he said. “I just thought you might be interested considering that they own the rights to Space Wars and have all these rides and characters.”

“Of course I am.” She started to bounce next to him. “So when do you want to go?”

“Don’t know. Christmas or Halloween would be cool if not cold. My birthday, but again it will be cold. Your birthday won’t be so cold.”

“Hopefully not anyway.”

“It doesn’t really matter. Having no children means that we aren’t limited to school holidays.”

Rey was so preoccupied planning this potential holiday with Ben that they arrived at the Hux house before she realised it.

Alice opened the door as soon as they rang the bell. She must have been sat waiting for them on the other side.

“Alice. What have I told you about answering the door?” Gwen stood in the kitchen doorway on a comfy sweater and leggings with her arms folded.

“But it’s only Uncle Ben and Rey and they have my presents.”

Gwen sighed loudly. They had had this conversation many times before and she was too stressed about this party to care. She went back into the kitchen, barely saying hello to Ben and Rey.

“You did get me a present didn’t you?” she said sweetly. Ben had carefully hidden the pink gift bag behind him so she couldn’t see it.

“Maybe.” Ben said holding it out in front of her. She gasped and clapped her hands together. If she wasn’t so on edge Rey would have said Alice looked sweet in her yellow party dress. Someone had done her hair in high pigtails, that were bouncing up and down when she did.

“Did you get me two?” she asked peaking into the bag then up at them with her big blue eyes.

Rey looked at Ben knowingly. She knew that Alice would want two presents, one from each of them. So they had got her two glitter magic unicorns, one was white and purple and the other was yellow and pink.

“Yes we did.” Ben said.

“Yay!” Alice cheered and snatched the bag from him.

“You’re not to open them now. Put them with the others.” Gwen shouted from the kitchen. Rey didn’t know how she did it as she hadn’t put her head round the door again.

“Fine.” Alice grumbled and to Rey’s surprise, took her hand and dragged her into the sitting room where there was a pile of presents in the corner and two people she didn’t recognise and one of the black leather sofas.

“Hello.” Rey said to be polite, but before she could introduce herself, Alice did it for her in her own unique way.

“This is my Auntie Siv,” She pointed to the woman who was about the same age as Gwen and much shorter. “And this is Uncle Keldo. He only has one leg.”

“Oh.” Rey said suddenly noticing the metal prosthetic poking out the bottom of his trouser leg. She didn’t know what to say to that.

“This is Ben’s girlfriend Rey. She has no parents.” Alice continued.

“Alice.” Ben said sternly, but she paid no attention and happily skipped out of the room.

“Did she do that on purpose?” Rey thought out loud slightly shocked.

“Well now at least the elephants are out in the open.” Keldo said. He tapped his metal leg. “IED during my second tour of Parnassos. You?”

“They died in a car crash when I was a baby.” she said shyly. She literally had no idea who this man was and yet they were swapping their most painful memories.

“There, now we don’t have to mention it ever again.” he said. “So as Alice said, I’m Keldo. I’m Gwen’s brother and this is my wife Siv.”

“Our daughters, Frey and Torbi, are here too.” Siv said. “They were trying to teach Bertie a new game. I thought it would be too hard for him, but I haven’t heard any screaming or crying yet so maybe not.”

“Maybe I should have given you a run down of everyone who was going to be here.” said Ben.

“Yes, and don’t let Alice introduce me to anyone else.” Rey said. Much like the devil, speaking her name made her appear. She came back into the sitting room with a much older, very tall man with a strong military bearing, in tow.

“Rey, come meet my Grandpa.” she said.

“Captain Kenneth Phasma. You can call me Sir.” He enveloped her hand in a very firm handshake. “Rey is a very unusual name for a woman.”

Alice answered before Rey could. “It’s short for Rachel.”

“Ah, that explains it.” He smiled at her but his face didn’t seem like it was used to the expression. “Well Solo, good to see you’re finally back in the saddle, just don’t break up with this one in public at a family function.”

Rey frowned at Captain Phasma then at Ben, but before she could question any of it, Alice took her hand again and dragged her out of the room.

“Come and meet Grandma Rey.” Alice took her through to the kitchen where her Grandma was sat at the table doting on a happy looking Alfie. There was no mistaking her, she looked like an older version of Gwen. “Grandma, this is Uncle Ben’s girlfriend Rey.” So she did know how to do a proper introduction.

“It’s good to meet you. I’m Barbara.” she gave Rey a much warmer and softer handshake. “The children have been telling us about you all morning.”

“Really?” She looked down at Alice suspiciously who looked back the picture of innocence.

“Don’t worry they didn’t say anything bad.”

Alfie started waving his chunky little arms and making noises to get the attention back on him.

“No fair Grandma. It’s my birthday, you should be paying attention to me.” Alice whined.

“He’s just a baby Alice.” Barbara said softly but she still ended up giving into Alice and left the room with her and Alfie.

“Do you need a hand with anything?” Rey asked Gwen who was furiously covering trays cling film then shoving them in the fridge.

“Thanks but I’ve literally just finished.” She let the fridge door slam and leaned back on the counter sighing heavily. “You know, if it wasn’t bad etiquette, I’d insist that everyone brings their own party food. At least then I wouldn’t be so worried about getting someone’s dietary requirements wrong.”

Rey just nodded. She’d never had to host a party nor had she been to many, but she knew they were harder to pull off than they appeared.

“It’s bad form to turn to drink already, so I may as well try and relax and talk to you for a bit. So you’ve met my family.”

“Very briefly. Alice kept dragging me around.” Rey said then checked over her shoulder to check no one was coming into the kitchen and also lowered her voice for good measure. “Your dad said some weird things.”

“He’s a military man through and through. Got the pleasure to retire, unlike the rest of us who get discharged. He’s very direct, so whatever he said he didn’t really mean. He will insist on calling you Rachel though.”

“Why? I don’t want to be called Rachel.”

Gwen shrugged. “I don’t know. He says that those are the names we were given, so that’s the name he’s going to use, but no one likes it, least of all Bertie.”

Rey nodded. She could put up with being called Rachel for one day by one person.

“So is it just your family here or is Hux’s coming later?” Rey asked.

“Oh Ben hasn’t told you. We don’t speak of his father.”

“Why not?” Rey leaned in closer. She knew it was wrong to gossip, but as Keldo said maybe it was better to acknowledge the elephant in the room sometimes.

“There is no love lost between them. The General, as we refer to him when we have to, instead of taking responsibility for the affair he had that produced a child, resented and took it out on the boy.”

“How horrid.” Rey said.

“Last time we saw him was at our wedding and that was only as a courtesy. He knows the children exist, but he’s never met them. Nor will he.”

“But what if he want to?” Rey could imagine them having this conversation over a bottle of wine, but Gwen was right, probably not before a child’s birthday party.

“If I could guarantee that it wouldn’t come to blows, I may consider it, but I’d rather not see my husband arrested for murder.”

Wow, things are really bad, thought Rey. Ben may say that he didn’t get along with his father, but she didn’t believe it was bad as Hux’s relationship with his father.

The doorbell rang making them jump slightly. Gwen looked at the clock and cursed.

“Shit. I need to get charged. Armie.” she shouted. “Can you come out here and do something useful.”

Hux emerged from the playroom where he’d been hiding.

“I’ll get it.” They all heard Alice call from down the hall.

Soon enough Alice’s three little friends, Isabella, Kelsey and Faryal arrived, as well as Bertie’s friend Hugo so that he wouldn’t be as outnumbered. He was so excited to have a friend over that he barely said hello to Rey before they ran off to play in the garden.

“Uncle Ben are you going to do crafts with us?” Alice asked as everyone made their way through the kitchen.

Ben glanced over at the table where pots of beads were set up so they could make bracelets. Rey knew he really didn’t want to join in but she thought it would look funny if he did.

“Not today kid. What you’re doing is way too fiddly for my big hands.”

Oh but your hands are so good at other things, thought Rey then immediately scolded herself, those were not appropriate thoughts for a child’s birthday party.

All of the men and boys ended up outside while the girls stayed inside and made friendship bracelets. It was Gwen’s idea to have invited so many adults so that the girls could be helped to make the bracelets neatly and quickly. Rey got paired up with Isabella, but she didn’t want much help.

“I only need help at the end. I’m nearly five.” she said.

“Are you now? Just let me know when you’re done and I’ll tie it off for you.”

With nothing else to do, Rey decided to make her own bracelet. The girls were all making them for each other, so she would make one for Rose. She came a bit unstuck when she realised she didn’t know what her favourite colour was, that was one of the first things she had asked Ben. So to keep it simple Rey just decided to spell her name out in letter beads and do the rest in red, the colour of roses.

“I like your necklace.” said the girl sat across the table from her. It was either Frey or Torbi she couldn’t remember as they got introduced to her as a pair and she felt bad about having to ask again. Even though they weren’t twins they looked spookily alike.

“Thank you. My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday.” Rey touched the daisy pendant that had hardly left her neck since she got it.

“Who are you making your bracelet for?”

“My friend Rose.”

“But you won’t get one in return.” the girl said like it was the worst thing the seven year old could think of.

“I don’t mind, really.” In truth Rey didn’t want a bracelet. They were making them out of the type of cheap plastic beads that only suited small children like Alice and her friends. Rose may not even appreciate the gift.

“Did you get it?” the girl asked as her slightly older sister came and sat next to her. They were plotting something that Rey wasn’t privy to, so she left them to it.

Soon the girls finished their bracelets and Gwen went and got the party food out of the fridge, then she had to make sure they each had what they were allowed.

The idea was to go and have a little picnic in the sitting room while watching a couple of episodes of Porg Island before having some cake and sending their guests home. Frey and Torbi didn’t want to do that, so they stayed in the kitchen playing with the beads.

Gwen got distracted when she went to get the boys inside by Alfie trying to stand up all by himself. So in the end the only ones supervising the children were Rey and Ben. She trusted him to know how to control these children.

“Right then Alice.” Ben asked taking control of the TV where all of the episode were recorded. “Which episode do you want to watch?”

“The one where it’s Penny’s birthday and she thinks that everyone’s forgotten but they throw her a surprise party.”

“Very good. Faryal you can pick one.”

“I want the one with baby Pip.”

“Excellent. Hugo?”

“The one where Pinchy the crab steals all their stuff.”

“Good choice. And Rey you get to choose the last one.”

Rey smiled at him. He was so good with children there was only one episode she could pick. “I like the one where they meet Kylo the sea serpent for the first time.”

“I know you do.” He winked at her. “So we should just about have enough time to watch those before we have cake and you go home.”

It surprised Rey how well they sat through the episodes even though they had probably already watched them a hundred times over. They didn’t get fidgety or want to watch something else, they just sat there and hummed along to the theme song and only asked questions that were relevant to the show. Rey didn’t know whether to contribute that to the show being really good or the children not being all hyped up, but it was really nice and she was having a great time.

“Uncle Ben, when are there going to be new episodes of Porg Island?” Bertie asked and they all looked at Ben eagerly, even Rey.

“We’re working on it, so some time next year.” he replied.

“Can I be in it?” Kelsy asked and the others jumped around and asked if they could be as well. Of course they wanted to be in it if Alice and Bertie got to be.

“We’ll see. We’re working on some new characters and new sets so we’ll see.”

“Right who wants cake?” Gwen made a reappearance with a very tired looking Alfie in her arms. He really should be taking a nap but with all these people around and giving him attention for trying to stand up, he didn’t want to.

The children all ran through to the kitchen with Rey and Ben following them more slowly.

“We’re having caterpillar cake again?” Rey whispered to Ben as they watched Hux light the four candles stuck into the creature’s back.

“What’s wrong with caterpillar cake? Everyone likes caterpillar cake Rey.”

“Yes but -” Before she could finish Frey and Torbi slipped something onto each of their wrists.

“We made you something.” they said. Rey looked down to see that they had made them matching green and red bracelets with R heart B on them.

“Awww. That’s so sweet. Thank you girls.” Maybe she did want one after all.

They sang Happy Birthday to Alice and had a slice of cake. A second caterpillar appeared so that they had enough. Then Alice and Bertie’s friends went home.

Rey and Ben stayed long enough to watch Alice open her presents. She really loved her glitter magic unicorns. Then they left, leaving the family to tidy the house up.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” Ben asked when they got to the tube station.

“That’ll be nice.” Rey said. She was pretty hungry having only eaten a slice of cake and some leftover party food all day.

They got on the train heading into central Coruscant. At that time of day it wasn’t very busy and they had nearly half a carriage to themselves.

“I was thinking about what Gwen’s dad said.” she said.

“Don’t listen to anything he says.” Ben said. “He doesn’t know how to talk to civilians.”

“Gwen said the same and I’m not. ‘When you break up’ indeed, but what did he mean by in public and a family function?”

Ben let out a big sigh. “You may have gathered that I haven’t had a girlfriend in a long while from what people have said, and I broke up with her at Hux and Gwen’s wedding seven years ago.”

“Oof. What made you do that?”

“I don’t know but I should have ended things long before then. I think I stayed with her so long because my parents really didn’t like her and I wanted to keep rebelling against them.”

“Bet they loved you for causing a scene at their wedding.”

“Hey, I tried to keep it quiet, she was the one who started screaming.”

“Do you feel bad about it?” she asked.

“No, she was kind of a bitch anyway.” he said then gently smiled at her.

“So, has it really been seven years?” Rey asked lightly.

“Well, there were a few people when I tried to put myself out there when I was getting tired of being alone, but they never lasted very long and I never introduced them to anyone. You’re the first person in a while to meet my friends and family. You’re very special to me Rey.”

“Oh Benny.” He didn’t particularly like the nickname but he let her use it when they were together. “If I had anyone to introduce you to I would but you already know everyone I do.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him as best she could when they were sat side by side.

***

“Hey. I made you something.” Rey said to Rose as she wandered into the HR office on Monday morning. She handed her the bracelet she had made.

“Uh, thanks?” Rose just looked at it.

“I know it’s tacky but I had to do something at the party. You obviously don’t have to wear it, you can just put it round your pencil pot. See.” Rey did just that and it looked quite good, brightening up the plain grey pot.

“I see you’ve got your own.”

“Yes one of the cousins made it for me.” She thrust out her wrist so Rose could get a better look. “Ben got one as well.”

“And is he still wearing his?” Rose asked.

“No, he put his in his ‘stuff that children have made that isn’t very good but I can’t bring myself to throw away’ box.” In truth Rey didn’t know why she was still wearing hers. It was childish and tacky but it reminded her of Ben.

“How come you’re in here anyway?”

“We’re taking it in turns to avoid Jess this morning.” Rey said.

“You guys are so mean. You’re special to her and the baby remember.” Rose playfully prodded her arm.

“I know but she’s been going on and on about baby names, it’s called Tallulah at the moment, and none of us really care. Then she asked me what I would name my children which is something I’ve never thought about nor do I want to, and when I couldn’t answer that she asked what I used to name my toys. I only had one toy and that’s a porg named Porgi, so I’m really not the best person to ask about naming stuff.”

She took a deep breath after off loading and looked at the clock. “I need to get back so I can relieve Snap. I’ll see you at lunch.”

Rose waved at her and went back to work.

***

Rey was curled up in the corner of Ben’s sofa reading her book when she heard a low buzzing sound. Looking around, she saw that Ben had left his phone on the coffee table and he was receiving a call. He had had to pop out when he realised he had forgotten to get one of the ingredients for what they were making for dinner, so she was home alone.

Rey wondered if he would mind if she answered it, she hated seeing the missed call and voicemail icons on her phone. Then she saw who was calling and decided she would.

“Hello,” she said answering the phone.

“Hello? Who’s this?” said the gravelly voice on the other end.

“It’s Rey.”

“Oh Rey hello.” Leia said cheerfully. “Where’s Ben?”

“He just had to go to the shop. He’ll be back soon.”

“Then we can sit and talk for a bit. How have you been?”

“Good yeah. Really good.”

“I hear you two went to Naboo. What else have you been up to?”

“Not a lot really.” Well they had, it just wasn’t stuff that she would ever tell Leia. “Ben’s teaching me how to cook.”

“He’s good at that. Don’t know where he gets it from. Han.” It sounded like she had stepped away from the phone to call her husband. “Han I’ve got Rey on the phone, come say hi. I’m putting you on speaker dear.”

“Hey kid.” Han’s gruff voice came across the line.

“Hey Han.” Rey tried to keep her voice level to hide her excitement. She still couldn’t get over the fact that she had actually met Han Solo.

“Have you met the little madam yet?”

“Han stop it, those children are darlings.” Leia scolded her husband.

“I want to hear Rey’s opinion.” he said.

“Alice is -” She didn’t really know how to describe her. “But I think we’ve come to an understanding now.”

“See.” Han said to Leia. If it was possible to hear someone roll their eyes, Rey could swear she heard Leia’s.

“What about your friend Jess? How are things with the baby?”

“Things are good. Found out she’s having a girl.”

“How lovely.”

“And she’s trying to come up with a name. It’s changed everyday this week. She’s called Evangeline at the moment.”

“Well it’s a big responsibility to come up with the name someone is going to use for the rest of their life. I named Ben after my old bodyguard.”

The door to the apartment opened making Rey jump slightly but it was only Ben.

“Who are you talking to?” he asked quietly as he went to put his shopping in the kitchen.

“Your parents.” she said.

“What was that dear?” Leia said.

“Nothing. Ben’s just got back.”

“Oh good. Do pass us over. It was nice talking to you Rey. We really should meet up again soon.”

Ben didn’t look very happy when he took the phone off her and he went into another room to answer it. Rey sat uncomfortably on the sofa, unable to focus on her book again at the thought of upsetting Ben. He came back a few minutes later.

“Are you mad at me for answering your phone?” she asked as she meekly followed him into the kitchen.

“Not really. I hate seeing the missed call and voicemail notifications and I never do anything about them.” He started getting equipment out of various cupboards. “Besides I should talk to them more and you should get to know them.”

“Good. Now what do you want me to do?”

Ben slammed a giant onion down on the chopping board in front of her. “I need you to cut up this onion as small as you possibly can.”

“You are so petty Solo.” she said trying to sound annoyed about her task and he was trying to hide his smile.

***

Rey woke up and stretched like a cat. There was nothing better than waking up in Ben’s bed on a lazy Saturday morning. His bedroom let in the right amount of light which enabled a nice gradual wake up, unlike her room where she was up at the crack of dawn if she didn’t wear an eye mask.

With summer fast approaching, Rey’s room was beginning to get very warm whereas Ben’s was a nice cool temperature.

Then there was the bed that she sank into like a marshmallow every time she was there. She thought sleeping on the floor was more comfortable than her own bed. It remained unproven though as why would she sleep on the floor when she could come over here and sleep with Ben?

But the best thing about sleeping over at Ben’s was that Ben was there. Rey hadn’t thought it would be so comforting sleeping next to someone but it was and the nights when she was back at her house, she found it difficult to fall asleep.

The stretch felt good and she rolled over to see that Ben was already awake and sat up reading.

“Morning.” she said sleepily.

“Morning.” he said in turn, smiling at her. He took off his glasses and put them and the book on his bedside table before laying back down so he could hold her.

“You’re still on volume three.” she observed.

“It’s a very big book and I used to read in the evenings but you’ve been distracting me lately.” His deep voice reverberated through her and made her want to be as close to him as possible.

“You’ve been distracting me as well. Going to work with you means I don’t get my morning commute reading done.”

“Maybe we should come up with a schedule.” Ben said as he tried to smooth out some of the tangles in her hair. It always got so messy when she slept yet his was always nearly perfect when he woke up. “As much as I love you, you don’t have to be here every night.”

Ben realised what he just said and tried to back pedal. “I mean, as much as I love having you here, you don’t have to be here every night.” He trailed off towards the end and pulled away from her.

Rey had perked up at what he had initially said. She had been waiting for him to say it and had wondered if she should say it first or whether it was another one of those things that had too much emphasis placed on it.

“Ben, I’m naked and in your bed do you really think I would mind you saying that you love me?”

“I don’t know. I just thought that you would find me disingenuous because you are.” He did have the decency not to try and peak under the covers. Rey had always been body conscious but after their first couple of nights together, hadn’t felt the need to cover up.

“You’re thinking too hard Ben.” Rey said closing the gap between them again. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone to say that to me. Of course I don’t mind, especially when I feel the same way.”

Ben gave her a big goofy smile that she returned. “Well then, I love you Rey.”

“I love you too Ben.” They shared a passionate kiss. Morning breath be damned.

***

“Considering I haven’t been doing as much reading in the past month, it’s taken me longer than expected to finish off my Space Wars books.” Rey said to Ben but she was looking at his book shelf. She liked looking at his book shelf. She didn’t know what it was but there was just something about looking at shelf upon shelf of books.

“Yes, we discussed this earlier.” He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck.

“Yes, then we get distracted, but I had a point.” She gently broke free before they once again get distracted. “You said you had a book you thought I might like that you would give to me once I finished my Space Wars ones.”

Ben took a book down from a shelf that was just above her head.

“The Starforge Cipher. What’s it about?” Rey asked reading the title.

“It’s set in the Mandalorian Wars two hundred and fifty years ago and follows a woman called Bastila Shan who take in a mysterious injured soldier and they get drawn into the world of espionage through a series of strange events.”

“And do Bastila and the mysterious man fall in love along the way?” Rey asked innocently.

Ben looked like he was about to ask her how she knew that, which confirmed that they did, but he asked something else instead. “What makes you say that?”

“Standard storytelling trope.” she said with a shrug. “If two people are going to be together they usually meet at the beginning so the author can build on their relationship.”

“Good point. So is it something you’d be interested in reading?”

“I’ll give it a go. I do like stories about women with agency and if there is a slow burn romance with a dark and mysterious man, more the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this week.  
I would be interested in seeing if anyone can find the hidden Easter Eggs in the names of my original characters.


	10. June

“What about this one?” Rey asked Ben. They were out shopping for a Father’s Day card.

“I don’t like the word wonderful. That’s not how I would describe my father.” Ben grumbled.

“How about this one?”

“He isn’t the best.”

“This one?”

“I have never seen him wear a tie.”

“Come one Ben, there must be something here that’s suitable.” It felt like they had been staring at the wall of cards for hours, Ben was finding fault with every single one of them.

“I literally just want one that say Happy Father’s Day. No sentimental guff.”

Rey sighed and kept looking. It was going to be tough to find the type of card Ben was looking for as it seemed that all the cards were either designed to show love or a sense of humour. A few of the cards had very questionable jokes on that she couldn’t imagine giving to anyone let alone a father or at least her idealised version of one for she didn’t have one of her own to go off of.

Rey knew well enough not to bring up the card with Lone Star on the front of it. Especially since it was a picture of him from the original film, around the time that Ben was born.

“Aww how cute.” Rey had moved into the section of cards meant for children to give their fathers and she’d found one that was of Daddy Porg from Porg Island surrounded by Percy, Penny and Pip.

“Yeah Gwen’s got each of the children one of those to give Hux.” Ben said finally looking less miserable.

“Why don’t they just sign the same card?”

“Because it’s funnier if he gets three.”

“Fine, but I think they should recreate the picture, that would be cute.”

It took them awhile but they found the card Ben was after tucked right at the bottom of the shelf, one that had no sentimental adjectives or hobbies that dad’s were supposed to have. Just a plain and simple card, cheap too.

“Are you going to get him a present too?” Rey asked for no other reason than she felt like poking the bear.

“No. Why should I?”

“Because he’s your dad. Because you took your mother for afternoon tea.” she pointed out.

“She booked that herself and made me pay.” Ben countered. “If my dad was so bothered he would do the same, but he’s not and won’t, so I won’t either.”

“Come on Ben, get him something.” She wrapped her arms around him and looked up at him with big hazel eyes.

“Fine. I’ll get him a bottle of whiskey.” he said wriggling away from her.

“Surely you can do more than that? I don’t know how much you spent at Canto Bight, but it was a lot.”

“Depending on the brand and year, whiskey can be a lot.” Rey folded her arms and gave him the look. “Ok, ok, I’ll think of something else. We know the owner of a distillery, maybe we could go there. Now will you get off my back about this?”

"Only when it’s all booked and you’ve told Han.”

As soon as they got back to Ben’s apartment, Rey made him call the old family friend who owned the distillery, Maz Kanata of Takodana Whiskeys. She was so pleased to hear from him for the first time in a long time that she offered him a private tour and tasting the day before Father’s Day.

Now all that was left was to tell Han, which Ben was more reluctant to do.

Rey thwarted his attempt to distract her from the task at hand by getting her into bed.

“Nope. None of that until you tell him.”

Ben slouched on the sofa and punched a few buttons on his phone and they sat there while it rang.

“He’s not going to answer.” he said on only the fourth ring.

“Hush, just give it a minute.” It continued to ring and Rey began to fear that Ben was right. But then on what must have been the last ring before it went to voicemail, Han picked up.

“Hello,”

“Put it on speaker.” Rey whispered. She wanted to listen in.

“Hey Dad.” Ben said.

“Ben! Good of you to call. How are things?”

“Good. Fine. The reason I’m calling is, since Father’s day is coming up, Rey and I would like to take you to Takodana Distillery.” Ben did seem a bit pained getting all the words out but at least he said them.

“Really? That would be great son. Thank you.” Rey was smiling at how excited Han sounded.

“Ok, it’ll be the Saturday before as that was all Maz could do for me, so I’ll see you there?”

“Yes I’ll see you there. I love you son.”

“Bye Dad.” Ben said and hung up. He chucked the phone onto the coffee table, leaned his head against the back of the sofa and sighed.

Rey shuffled closer to him. “Well done darling. Do you want to be left alone for a bit?”

“No I’m fine.”

“Good,” Rey crawled into his lap. “Now that you’ve done that, you can do me.” Ben burst out laughing. “I’m sorry was that too tacky?”

***

Monday morning came along and Rey got ready and left for work from her house. As part of their schedule they had decided that Rey would sleep in her own place on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights so that she could justify paying her rent. All other nights she would spend with Ben on his soft, comfortable bed and in his strong loving arms.

She would send him a message when she was at the station. They hadn’t worked out how to time it perfectly so that they were on the same train without one of them having to hang around, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that they wouldn’t be together every morning so Rey could get some reading done on her journey into work, but she still looked out for him at his stop.

She was very much enjoying the book he had given her. It had taken a bit of getting used to, the fact that there were no space ships or lasers, but it was good. Bastila was a great character and the mystery was intriguing.

By the time she got to work she was a bit sweaty and gross feeling. Summer was returning to Coruscant meaning that the underground was starting to become unbearably hot again. But it was only June, it would get worse before it got better. Rey was just glad that the office had air conditioning.

Also by the time she got to work, she hadn’t heard from Ben. It wasn’t unusual, he could have still been on the tube or he could be in an early morning meeting. But as the morning dragged on, she still hadn’t heard from him. Instead she had to listen to Jess and Finn argue about Father’s Day.

“I’m just saying that the holiday is offensive to my little Seraphina. Her father wants nothing to do with her, so why should men be celebrated for the two minutes of work they put in?”

“Then you don’t have to celebrate.” Finn sounded like he was trying not to get too angry. “Or she could just send a card to your dad or Mr Jinn considering he’s giving you some support.”

“I don’t know why you’re so for this holiday, you’re not a father.”

“But I have one, and plenty of nieces and nephews.”

“But what if he was dead?” Jess asked.

“Then I would remember him.” Finn said rather exacerbated.

“But what about those people who only have bad memories or never knew their fathers?”

“Rey I’m going to let you handle this one.” he said through clenched teeth and she could see he was holding a stress ball rather tightly.

Rey hadn’t really wanted to be drawn into this. “Well, I’ve obviously never taken part but I don’t have a problem with it. I’m happy for people to celebrate what they want to celebrate.”

“But doesn’t it make you upset to be reminded of what you don’t have?” asked Jess.

“Yes but so does Mother’s Day and Christmas and until this year, Valentine’s Day. I cried at my Graduation because no one in the crowd was cheering for me. You can’t call for a boycott of all these things.” Rey shrugged. “Besides, they’re all made up my greeting card companies to sell products if you want to believe in that conspiracy theory.”

That seemed to shut Jess up and they sat quietly for the rest of the morning. Snap came back in once they stopped talking, it appeared he had been lurking outside for them to do so.

By lunchtime, Rey still hadn’t heard from Ben, so she sent him another message to see if he was still alright to meet for lunch. They always had lunch together on the days when they wouldn’t be having dinner together. She got a response almost straight away.

Ben: Not at work. Talk later.

Rey thought that was odd. If he was ill, why would he have taken so long to tell her.

She sent him a message back wishing him well, then went to see if she could find Rose so she could at least go have lunch with somebody.

Nothing interesting happened at work that afternoon and Rey was glad to go home. It felt weird though. For the first time in months she was making the journey on her own. She had forgotten how cramped it was and how jostled you got as Ben had managed to shield her from most of it and she didn’t mind being pressed up against Ben.

When they got to his stop, Rey briefly thought about getting off to go check on him. But then she thought that if he was ill he might not appreciate her calling round unannounced, so she decided to call him when she got home to see if he wanted her to bring him anything.

When Rey got off the train at her stop, she was surprised to see a familiar large figure dressed in a black hoodie and matching sweatpants, sat on a bench with his head in his hands.

“Ben.” At first Rey was glad to see him. Then he lifted his head and she could see how rough he looked. His eyes were red, his hair was limp and he hadn’t shaved that morning. She hadn’t seen him like this since they fell out back in January.

If he’d this bad, why did he come out? Why didn’t he ask me to go to him? She thought.

“Can I go home with you?” Ben asked so quietly that she nearly missed it over the sound of another train pulling up to the platform.

“Of course you can.” she said softly and offered him her hand.

Rey tried to talk to Ben on their short walk home but he seemed more interested in his shoes.

“Here we are.” she said brightly as she unlocked the door to her room. As soon as Ben stepped inside, the place seemed even smaller than it was. It wouldn’t take very long to give Ben a tour if he felt up to it.

Rey opened the windows as far as they would go to let some fresh air into the room. She heard a massive creak as Ben sat down on her bed.

“I know it’s not comfortable. I really should look into getting a new one. Now what’s wrong with you?” She ran her hand across his face brushing his hair out of the way. She had never seen it so messy, not when he was done exercising, not when he’d just woken up and not after they’d made love when she was actively trying to mess it up.

She saw Ben’s eyes fill with tears. “He’s dead.”

“Who’s dead?”

“Han.” His lips trembled as he tried ever so hard not to break down. “Han Solo’s dead. My dad’s dead.”

Rey felt herself go cold. “What?” she stammered. “No that can’t be. We just talked to him at the weekend. How did it happen?”

“He had a heart attack during the night. The doctors couldn’t revive him.”

She sat down on the bed next to him. The metal frame groaned in protest at the extra weight.

“It can’t be true. He’s a celebrity, we would have heard. It would be all over the news.”

“Mother and her team are keeping it quiet for now until they get everything sorted.”

“Oh Benny.” Rey couldn’t stop her own tears from falling. She hadn’t known Han very long personally, but she felt like she had known him for most of her life thanks to his movies and her grief was just as profound as Ben’s was.

They held each other for a long time. Rey could feel that Ben was leaving a wet patch on her shoulder just like the one she was leaving on his.

When at last her tears dried up, Rey felt numb but she was thinking clearly enough to take control of the situation. She took Ben’s face in her hands and tried to make him meet her eye.

“You need to go to her. Go home to your mother.” she said.

He shook his head slightly and continued to stare down at her daisy pendant. “I’d just be in the way.”

“No you won’t. I’m sure she wants you there. You can’t leave her alone at a time like this.”

“She’s not alone. She’s always surrounded by people.”

“They’re not her family. You are.” she pointed out.

“She’s with Uncle Luke, her brother.”

“That’s not the same Ben.” she said softly. “Why don’t you want to go?”

“Because I feel like a fraud, like a bad son.” Ben’s voice cracked every other word. “Because I took too long to forgive my dad and now I’ll never get a chance to mend our broken relationship.”

“Oh Benny.” Rey stood up so she could hold him a bit better. He laid his head on her chest and wrapped his arms around her to bring them as close together as possible.

“It’s not too late. Leia’s still here and she needs you. Don’t prove that horrid negative voice in your head right.” She carded her fingers through his hair, it seemed to calm him down.

“We can sort out travel and work and everything tomorrow, and we’ll go to Alderaan together. I have some holiday I can use. Holdo and everyone will understand.”

Ben nodded weakly against her. “Can I stay here tonight?”

Rey looked around her tiny cramped room and at her lumpy bed that was barely comfortable for one person, let alone two, then down at Ben who was looking at her with sad brown eyes.

“Of course you can.” She gave him a watery smile. “Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m not hungry, just tired. I want you to hold me.”

Rey wasn’t hungry either but she got herself a breakfast bar out of the cupboard before she laid down next to Ben. The human contact was comforting and knowing they were there for each other, even more so.

She didn’t know how long they had been laying there or if she had dozed off, but the sound of her phone ringing startled her.

“No don’t go.” Ben moaned as she got up to retrieve her phone from her bag.

Rey was slightly wary as she answered it as it was an unknown number. “Hello?”

“Hello, is that Rey? It’s Amilyn.”

“Oh hello.” She didn’t know what to say to her boss in person let alone on the phone later on in the evening.

“Firstly and most importantly, is Ben with you?” Holdo sounded a bit worried.

“Yes he’s with me.” Rey could hear Holdo breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. No one’s been able to get a hold of him and there was no answer when I went to his apartment so I pulled your personnel file and called you before I called the police.”

“Did you bring your phone with you?” Rey whispered to Ben. He shook his head. “How long were you sat waiting for me?” He shrugged.

“Well he hasn’t got his phone and he was sat at my tube station for an unknown amount of time, so that explains why.” she said to Holdo. She sat on the bed and stroked the back of Ben’s hand.

“Obviously you know what’s happened. How’s he holding up?”

Rey looked Ben over. “He’s just being quite quiet. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

“Just keep an eye on him for now. The main reason we’ve been trying to get a hold of Ben is that Kaydel, bless her, has booked flights to Alderaan for the for the two of you tomorrow and she emailed the details to him. Do you mind if I give her your email so you’ve got a copy and can try and sort everything out your end?”

“No that’s fine.”

“Good. It’s probably best you get there before the announcement is made as things will probably get a little mad. And don’t worry about work, I myself am flying out tomorrow and I’ve already sorted things out with Poe.”

“Thank you Amilyn.” Rey said glad that someone else had done most of the organising for her.

“Your welcome dear. Give Ben my love.”

They hung up and Rey turned to Ben who hadn’t moved an inch the whole time. “Did you get that?” she said gently brushing a strand of hair off his face.

“We’re going to Alderaan tomorrow.” he mumbled.

“Hope the fight isn’t too early, we need to go back to your to pack some stuff. Or we could go now?” It was dark but it wasn’t too late.

“No I want to stay here.” Ben said curling himself up even more.

“Are you sure? The bed’s awfully lumpy.” She secretly wanted him to change his mind.

“It doesn’t matter.” he said rather despondent.

Rey decided to keep herself busy and packed her suitcase. She had no idea what outfits were appropriate so she packed a range and hoped that someone would be kind enough to advise her when they got there.

When it came time to go to bed, it took Rey a while to coax Ben out of his hoodie and sweatpants as she didn’t want him to overheat.

Once she was ready for bed herself, she laid down in the dark and stared at the ceiling. With nothing to do but think, she felt the tears sting her eyes and she silently let them fall.

How could this happen? Han seemed fine when they spoke to him. They were meant to go to Takodana Distillery together. There was talk of another Texas Jack film. Now both would never happen and her heart was breaking not just for herself but for Ben. His grief over the loss of his father proved to her that he did love him deep down despite their strained relationship and now they would never be able to make amends.

Rey held Porgi tightly as she cried like she had done so many times before. He was the only one who had ever bought her any comfort when she was upset. So it was a surprise when she felt Ben wipe away her tears.

She turned her head to look at him, his hand still on her cheek. He had never seen her cry before tonight, everything had been going so well since they got together. She was at her most vulnerable and so was he.

“You’re not alone.” Ben whispered. He knew that she had no one but Porgi growing up but now she had him, and he had her as well.

“Neither are you.” Rey whispered back.

They feel asleep in each other’s arms with Porgi in the middle.

***

Rey had never been on a plane before and on their way to Alderaan she decided she didn’t like it. She didn’t like the sounds the plane was making, didn’t like the way it shook and she especially didn’t like the fact that if something went wrong they would have to plunge a couple of thousand feet to their deaths.

Ben had suggested that she watch a film to help her calm down but she couldn’t do it after seeing several of Han Solo’s films on the list. So there she sat with Porgi under one arm and holding Ben’s hand with the other.

They were travelling first class, because of course they were, so Rey knew her first flying experience could be worse but she couldn’t enjoy it. She also found that the passengers in first class on the plane were much more snooty than the ones who were travelling first class on the train, and were openly turning their noses up at the sight of a grown woman holding a toy porg.

But the flight was only a couple of hours, she could put up with everything for that long.

When they finally landed, Rey had trouble keeping her lunch down it was that bumpy, but she was glad to be back on solid ground.

They were ushered through Alderaan’s International Airport, Ben had special clearance or something and they were soon ready to leave.

They stepped out into the middle of a rain storm. The air was chilly and Rey was glad of the hoodie she was wearing to keep her warm. Ben was wearing his too.

She was also glad to be wearing it as it gave her some protection from the paparazzi who were waiting outside on the off chance that someone worth photographing walked by. Ben was right, they did have an interest in him here where they didn’t back in Coruscant. They were shouting out questions; asking him why he was back, who she was, but Ben kept walking and she followed him to the car that had been sent to pick them up. At least it was apparent that the news hadn’t broken, the reason why they were there.

They were driven back to what was once the Royal Palace but now housed some government offices, a museum and the ambassador’s residence. The west wing was left in ruin as a reminder of the explosion that had killed the last King and Queen.

Rey looked out of the tinted windows and took in as much of the city as she could. She wished they were here under happier circumstances, that they could enjoy a trip away together like they had when they went to Naboo.

She saw several people turn and point at their car as they went past. It wasn’t exactly conspicuous. The little Alderaanian flags on the bonnet told everyone that someone special/important was inside, even though Rey didn’t think her and Ben were.

They pulled into a private gate away from the crowds of tourists taking photos and waiting to go into the museum.

As soon as the car pulled up as couple of footmen, footmen! Rey couldn’t believe it, came and collected their bags leaving Rey and Ben stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the front door.

When Ben made no move to enter it was up to Rey to take him by the hand and lead him inside.

“I don’t know what to say to her.” he said quietly. Rey looked up at him to see that he was more pale than usual. His hand was clammy and he swallowed thickly.

Ben had grown increasingly quiet as they drew closer to their destination and Rey could tell he was scared and nervous to see his mother. She thought if she wasn’t there he’d probably run in the opposite direction.

“Just start with hello.” she said kindly. “You’ll know what to say when we get there.”

They found Leia in her sitting room. Rey was too surprised by her appearance to notice the other people in the room. Her long greying hair was down and had a few tangles in it. She was wearing very casual clothes. It was strange to see her in a t-shirt, but judging by the size of it it might have been Han’s and she had aged quite a bit since the last time they had met.

Rey recognised the despondent look on Leia’s face, it was the same as on Ben’s. She had been staring off into the distance when they came into the room, a brief look of joy flashed across her face and his, and they closed the gap between them, meeting in the middle with a big hug.

“Oh Benny.” Leia whispered through her tears.

“I’m so sorry Mummy.” Ben said through his.

“No no it’s ok. You’re here and that’s all that matters.” Leia kissed him on the cheek and smoothed down his hair.

Rey felt tears prick her eyes again, but instead of sad tears they were happy ones at watching mother and son reunite.

“You must be Rey.” She was startled by an older man with a beard dressed in religious robes. “I’m Luke, Leia’s brother. She and Amilyn have been telling me all about you.”

Rey shook his hand. “People keep saying that and I’m always curious as to what they’ve said as I don’t believe there’s much to tell.”

“Well they said you liked porgs and I can see that is true.” Rey had forgotten she was still holding Porgi. On the journey from the plane there hadn’t been much opportunity to put him away.

“Rey.” Leia cried as she swooped in to give her a hug. “Thank you for bringing him home.” she whispered in her ear. Rey smiled and kept the hug going a bit longer.

When they finally broke apart, they found the Kaydel had joined them. She looked tired but very organised with her tablet in her hands.

“Ah Kaydel, my wonderful assistant.” Leia said giving the young woman a sad smile. “Who’s kept everything going for the past couple of days. How’s it all going?”

Leia took Rey’s hand in one of hers and Ben’s in the other and stood between them for support.

“We’ve written the final draft of the announcement to be made tomorrow morning that you need to sign off on.” Kaydel said softly.

“Yes, but wait until we’ve had some dinner, I don’t think I can stomach it right now. Not that I can really stomach food either. Has there been any hints of leaked information?”

Kaydel shook her head. “The only things the press are reaching out to us for are, why Ben is here.”

“Which will be become obvious tomorrow.”

“And who the lady with him was.” She turned to Rey. “They’re calling you ‘Porg Lady’ I’m afraid.”

“Oh,” said Rey looking down at Porgi again.

“Doesn’t matter. We don’t have to say anything until we confirm the guest list, and we don’t have to say anything about your relationship with Ben if you don’t want us to.”

“What would happen if you did?” Rey asked.

“Hopefully nothing. You and Ben live private lives in Coruscant and he gets left alone, so should you.”

Rey looked over at Ben. “I’ll think about it.”

“Was there anything else Kaydel?” Leia asked her assistant.

“No that’s all I need to tell you about for now.”

“Thank you. I think the rest of us should have some dinner and then try and get a good night's sleep to prepare for tomorrow.”

***

Rey was woken up by her phone ringing and was instantly disoriented. This wasn’t her room or Ben’s. It was by far the biggest and grandest room she had ever slept in.

Then she remembered where they were and why they were there and the sadness returned to her heart, she had been so tired last night that she had gone to sleep straight away without any time to think things over. But now it was morning and she had a very good idea as to why Finn would be calling her.

“Rey. Have you heard? Is it true?” Finn said in a slightly panicked voice.

Rey rubbed her eyes to wake herself up. She grabbed her hoodie to put on over her pyjamas and left the room so that she wouldn’t disturb Ben. It was probably best to let him sleep a bit longer. At some point during the night, he had gotten hold of Porgi and was now cuddling him.

“Yes I found out on Monday. I’m in Alderaan with Ben, that’s why I wasn’t at work yesterday.” She found a nice sunny window ledge to sit on which had spectacular views out onto the mountains.

“Poe just said you were sick, but I didn’t think that was right as you’ve never been sick the whole time you’ve worked here. Jess was hoping you were pregnant too so your babies could be best friends.”

Rey had to laugh at the ridiculousness, the first time in days. “Please tell her I’m certainly not.”

“But how are you doing? How’s Ben doing?” She was glad to hear that it hadn’t pained Finn to say that.

“He’s probably taking it worse than even he expected him to.”

“And what about you?”

“I don’t know.” she said feeling a lump forming in her throat. “I mean my heart is breaking for Ben, but I didn’t really know Han yet I feel like I do.”

“A lot of people feel that way. My news feed is full of tributes from all sorts of people whose lives Han Solo touched in some way.” Finn said sympathetically.

“But more selfishly, I was thinking that I’d finally get to know what it was like having parents, that I’d be part of a family but now -” her voice broke.

“Hey, it’s ok.” Finn said but it really wasn’t as a sob ripped through her. “I’m of no use to you here, but you go find someone to give you a hug.”

Rey continued to sit on the window ledge after Finn hung up. She brought her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees and cried. She knew she should have gone back to bed, to Ben and Porgi, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.

She only briefly stopped when she felt a small, warm hand gently rub her back. Looking up, she saw that Leia had found her.

“It’s ironic really. Han hated seeing anyone upset, yet he’s the one making us feel this way.”

“Oh Leia.” Rey sobbed and went to hug her.

Leia cradled her. “I’ve got you Rey. I’ve got you.” They stayed like that for several minutes while Rey calmed herself down.

“I would be honoured if you let me do motherly things with you.” Leia said softly against her hair.

Rey smiled a little. “You heard that?”

“A little, yes. I always wanted a daughter. There are reasons why Ben is an only child even though I wish he’d had a sibling to keep him company.”

“I’d like that. The motherly things I mean.”

“I can braid your hair.” Leia ran her fingers over Rey’s hair that was the usual mess it was in the morning. “And we can go and find you a dress for the ball.”

“What ball?” Rey asked.

“The charity ball I hold every July. Hasn’t anyone told you about it?”

Rey had to think back a long while, back to when Poe called her into his office to see why she wasn’t eating properly. But she knew and she had thought it was something to look forward to. Little did she know how much would happen between then and now.

“Are you still going to hold it this year?”

“Of course. We’ll hold it in Han’s memory. He did love a party.”

***

Rey and Ben spent the next few days before the funeral pouring over the various tributes for Han. From news articles and magazine features to messages from his co-stars from across his career. Han was very popular and had touched so many people’s lives. People started laying flowers outside the gates of the Palace as tribute.

Both Tom Alexander and Maisie Ripley had posted behind the scenes photos of the three of them together remembering their short time together and how much Han had inspired them.

Rey found them all sweet and touching but they seemed to make Ben feel worse, reminding him that he couldn’t say in honesty, the kind of things these people were saying, may of whom hadn’t ever met Han.

He kept to himself despite whatever Rey tried to do, watch a movie, play a game, to just talk, but Ben kept quiet which was upsetting her more than the loss they’d just experienced as she didn’t know how to make it better.

***

The day of the funeral arrived. It was bright and sunny and much too warm to be wearing black. Rey was wearing a black dress that Leia had let her borrow and she had also done Rey’s hair in a mourning braid similar to her own.

They slowly travelled through the streets of Alderaan in a car following the hearse. Her, Ben, Leia, Amilyn, Lando and Chewie made the journey in silence, funerals were overwhelming enough without having most of the world’s eyes on you, but it was estimated that thousands of people had made their way to Alderaan to line the streets and pay their respects.

Rey was glad that Chewie and Lando had come a few days early, not that they wouldn’t have come, they were Han’s best friends after all, but they had managed to get somewhat through to Ben.

The two of them made a funny sight as they walked behind the coffin into the cathedral. Lando was wearing a black silk lined cape over his suit and Chewie had almost refused to wear one but had lost the battle of wills with Leia and was now wearing one that barely fit and contrasted wildly with his ponytail and big bushy beard.

Rey walked behind Ben and Leia. She wanted to hold his hand but they decided it was probably best if he walked in with his mother.

She tried not to feel daunted by all the people looking their way. The cathedral was full of Han’s friends from the films he had done and other people he knew from the industry, to members of the classic car clubs and drinking clubs he was part of. Rey knew that Kaydel and the rest of her team had had a hard time keeping the guest list down.

Luke Skywalker conducted the service with the solemn dignity required of him. He used this to mask his true feelings, Han had been his friend too, he had been the one to introduce him to Leia.

Leia gave a sweet eulogy that left everyone with tears in their eyes. Then Lando got up and told stories that had them roaring with laughter, Rey even saw Ben raise a smile. When they had been discussing the service, he had refused to give a reading. Said he couldn’t get up there and say things he knew why untrue. Rey thought it was a shame but at least he was here and that’s all Han could have asked for.

They all went back to the Palace for the wake. The mood was less sour. Rey felt much better now that the hard part was over. Now was the time to have some food and drink and remember Han in a much less formal setting.

Leia and Ben were forced into the role of hosts and had to go around greeting everyone, thanking them for coming and accepting their condolences. It was a tiring job and not one the recently bereaved would actually want to do but it was expected of them.

Rey felt a bit lost in the sea of people. No one knew who she was, so she floated by the buffet table seeing who she could see in the crowd.

There was Qi’ra Maul, the actress who played General Emilia in the original Space Wars films, and her husband Darth whose suit almost covered his full body tribal tattoos.

Tom Alexander was there with his wife and it looked like they were expecting. Good for them, thought Rey. She thought she should focus more on new beginnings after this week, maybe be kinder to Jess and her baby.

Then she saw Maisie Ripley stood off to the side on her own and thought that no one should be on their own at a funeral. She could go up to her and have a normal conversation without becoming a crazed fan girl.

“Hi I’m Rey.” she said. Maisie blinked at her for a moment before introducing herself.

“Yes I know who you are.” Rey said. “I don’t know whether you remember me, not that we’ve actually met, but do you remember just after Christmas when Han set you up to go to lunch with his son Ben?”

“I still can’t believe he did that. The poor guy was completely blindsided when Han walked away. I never had it out with him but I bet Ben did.” Maisie frowned then. “Wait, how do you know that was the reason we were there?”

“Because the picture Ben got you to sign was for me.”

“Oh, he did mention there was someone that he liked. Judging by the fact that you’re here, things must be going well.”

“Well I was very jealous when I saw the pictures of you leaving the restaurant together, I didn’t speak to him for a couple of weeks. But things got better once I actually let him explain and you confirmed your own relationship.”

“That’s good.” Maisie said. “I’ve somehow managed to lose John, there’s so many people here.”

Rey looked around then to see if she could spot Ben. She could see Chewie, he was by far the tallest person in the room, but she couldn’t see Ben anywhere. She presumed he had had enough and had gone to hide somewhere. That made her a little disappointed.

“Look who I found.” John Crawley had managed to find Maisie at last and Rey was surprised, and happy to see that he had brought Ben with him. She had just missed him in the crowd somehow.

“Hello Ben,” Maisie said and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “How have you been? I’ve just been talking to Rey here.”

Ben answered like he hadn’t just been asked the same question by everyone else in the room. “This past week has been hard, but Rey’s been getting me through it.”

Rey wanted to hug and squeeze and kiss him for the sweet things he said, but here wasn’t really the place. Instead she smiled at him and held out her hand so he could take it and come stand next to her.

“Ladies and Gentlemen.” Lando’s smooth voice cut through the noise of the room and people began to fall silent. He was stood on top of a table, which couldn’t have been safe for a man of his age, but the action proved that he was just a theatrical as he had been when he was a younger man.

“I would like to make a toast, but before I do. Most of you know that Han was more than partial to a drop of whiskey. Maz Kanata of Takodana Distillery had sent us several cases of her best vintage to help us celebrate Han’s life.

Waiters began moving through the crowd offering out small glasses of the amber liquid.

Lando held his glass high. “To the man who was a hero to so many. Goodbye old friend. To Han!”

“To Han!” the crowd cheered back and many threw back their drinks in one. Rey was a bit more sceptical and took the tiniest sip. She felt it burn down her throat and she started coughing.

“That drink is awful.” she spluttered. Ben laughed as he rubbed her back. She didn’t care that it was at her expensive, it was the first time he had laughed in days and it made her feel better.

***

Rey and Ben sat out on the private terrace watching the sunset behind the mountains. It was the night before they were due to go back to Coruscant and Rey was ready to go back. It had been a long and tiring week and a half and she wanted to get back into her routine.

Since the funeral, Ben had been getting better, it seemed that laying his dad to rest had given him some closure. He was talking a bit more and moving around. They had even managed to take a secret trip into the city. Ben had bought her a dainty bracelet of little interlocking flowers as a thank you present.

He had started fiddling with said bracelet, like there was something he wanted to say but was too nervous to.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“I errr,” He took hold of her hands. “I’m not going back to Coruscant with you.”

“What?” Rey didn’t know whether to be hurt, angry or confused.

“I mean, I’ll fly home with you but then I’m going off again.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Rey cried jumping to her feet. How dare he, after everything they’d just been through.

“No it’s not like that.” Ben stood up as well still holding her hand. “After what has happened, I’m not ready to go back, I need to take some time for some self care. Uncle Chewie has a cabin in the woods and I’m going to go there.”

“But you’re still leaving me.” Rey had begun to cry so Ben gathered her up in his arms and pressed a kiss into her forehead.

“It’ll only be a couple of weeks, then I’ll come back to you sweetheart I promise.”

“Ok, but I want you to call me every night.” she said while sniffling.

“I’ll do my best sweetheart.”

They stayed in that embrace until the sun fully set and the stars came out.


	11. July

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late but I was away yesterday. Anyway after last week, time for something more fun.

“But why can’t I have my birthday party on my birthday?” Bertie asked.

“Because your birthday is right at the end of term and everyone is really busy so if we have your party at the beginning of the month all of your friends will be able to come.” Gwen said diplomatically.

Rey smiled to herself and kept quiet. She knew why. Bertie may be complaining about it now, but he wouldn’t be when he found out they were going to Dreamworld.

She was over at the Huxes’ helping them get ready for Bertie’s party, they were meeting some of his friends in the park around the corner and they were going to play some games. Rey on the other hand was going to be having a porgy picnic with Alice. It was going to be a teddy bear’s picnic but when Alice found out Rey only had a porg, she changed the theme.

“But what am I going to on my actual birthday if I’m not going to have a party?” whined Bertie.

“We’ll still have fun it’ll just be the five of us.” Gwen said passing Rey food out of the fridge for her to put in the cooler.

“Will Uncle Ben be back by then?”

Gwen shot a look at Rey who just pressed her lips together. “Hopefully sweetie. Why don’t you run along and help Daddy.”

“Are you ok?” she asked Rey softly once Bertie had gone.

“I think so.” Rey said. Ben had already been away longer than the two weeks he’d said, but he told her he was working on a surprise for her that would make it up to her. “It just feels a bit weird being here without him.”

“Well I’m glad you are. We need more adults really.”

“Why aren’t your family coming again?” Rey asked.

“My parents are on holiday and Frey and Torbi have a drama group thing. So you’ve got Alice, I’ve got Alfie,” They looked over at Alfie who was standing, staring at them through the bars of what was referred to as the baby prison. It was kind of creepy. “And Armie and a couple of the other dads have the rest of them. I just didn’t realise how much Ben did for us and how much we rely on him.”

“He loves you guys and I’m sure he would want to be here.” Rey said feeling that her response was very mature.

“Have you been talking to him?”

“When we can. The reception has been very patchy.”

“Well he did choose to go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.” Something behind her caught Gwen’s attention and she frowned. “Alice, you are not taking all of them.”

Rey turned to see that Alice’s arms were laden with many porgs of different shapes and sizes. They were piled so high that she didn’t know how the little girl could see where she was going or how she had managed to keep hold of them with dropping one.

“But Mummy, parties are better when there’s more people, so I need all the porgs.” Alice said.

“No. You can take a Percy, Penny and Pip if you insist on taking more than one. But not the giant one.”

Alice dropped all the porg toys in protest, picked out Percy, Penny and Pip and left the room in a huff.

“Alice come back and clean these up or you’re not going.” Gwen said crossly.

“Then me and Rey can have a picnic with all the porgs.” Alice called from the other room.

“No, Rey’s coming with us.”

“You’re not allowed to leave me here on my own.” Alice said back. She had a point.

Rey looked at Gwen who was grinding her teeth. “Fine.” she said and went and got a charity bag out of a drawer. “If you’re going to leave all these porgs on the floor you obviously don’t want them, I’ll just give them all to charity so other children can play with them.”

When Gwen had put all the porgs in the bag and tired it up, Alice was stood in the doorway looking horrified.

“No Mummy you can’t.”

“Yes I can.” Gwen said holding the bag out of reach.

“I’ll be good Mummy. Don’t take away my porgs.” Alice looked like she was going to cry.

“Good, now go put these away then put your shoes on.” Gwen put the bag on the floor and Alice quickly dragged it upstairs to her bedroom.

Gwen sighed and said, “I’m really not looking forward to her being a teenager.”

The six of them eventually left the house to go to the park. They were meeting Bertie’s friends at the bandstand. A couple of them were there already and Bertie raced off to meet them as soon as he saw them. Rey didn’t get a chance to be introduced as Alice pulled her away to a nice shady spot so they could have their picnic. She gave Alice Porgi to hold while she set everything up.

“He’s really old looking.” said Alice.

“That’s because he’s as old as I am.” Rey said. She wasn’t really that old, but to someone like Alice she was and as a cuddly toy, Porgi was really old.

“He can be Grandpa Porg.” Alice sat the porgs up on the edge of the rug Rey had laid out. She had to admit Alice’s idea was a good one, Porgi did look like he could be Percy, Penny and Pip’s grandpa.

“Do you think Uncle Ben would come and sit with us or play with the boys?” Alice asked tucking into her sandwich.

“Probably play with the boys.” Rey looked over to where Bertie and his friends were kicking a ball around.

“Couldn’t you make him sit and have a picnic with us?”

Rey laughed gently. “I can’t make him do anything. And besides, he's the one who’s usually running round after you because your daddy can’t.”

While on military duty, Armitage Hux had been involved in a helicopter crash which broke his back. It was a miracle that he was able to walk again, let alone produce three children, but it still affected him leaving him unable to do heavy lifting or anything else strenuous. Which is how his children had such a strong bond with Ben, he did the things their father couldn’t

“I miss him.” Alice said sadly.

“Me too sweetie. But he’ll be back soon.” Rey offered her the box of cookies to cheer her up.

Just then Rey hear her phone ring. Speak of the devil, she thought. But it was strange, for the first time it was a video call.

“Hello Ben.” she said cheerfully sending a sideways glance to Alice to see her perk up.

“Rey.” He smiled back at her. It was good to actually see him as well as hear him. “You’re outside.”

“And you’re video calling me. What gives?”

“I’m somewhere that actually has good reception for a change, but I can’t tell you where as it’s part of your surprise. But what about you, why are you outside?”

Before she could answer, Alice jumped into her lap so she could be on camera. “Bertie’s having a party in the park and me and Rey are having a porgy picnic. She has a really, really, really old porg.”

“I know but he gives good hugs.” Ben said. Rey smiled. She was glad that Porgi comforted him when he needed it most.

“What’s that on your face?” Alice asked.

Ben ran a hand over the dark hair on his chin and top lip. “I let my beard grow out. Do you like it?”

“No.” Alice said flatly.

“Ok. Rey what do you think?”

“Um. I think I’ll wait to see it in person.” It did kind of suit him, but she didn’t want to tell him he could keep it until she knew how it felt on certain body parts.

“Anyway it’s good to see you two are friends now.” he said. Rey thought friends was still stretching it a bit but she and Alice were getting there.

“Yes we are, and I’m going to be a bridesmaid at your wedding.” Alice said moving to an even more uncomfortable position on Rey’s lap so she could give her a hug.

“Wait, what?” “Is that so?” Rey and Ben said respectively at the same time.

“Yes, and then you’ll have a baby and you can call her Alice after me.”

“No.” Rey said. Even if she had a baby in the distant future, she was not calling her Alice.

“Would you really want there to be another child called Alice?” Ben said. Rey scowled at him for carrying on this conversation. He knew her views.

“How about Charlotte? That’s my middle name.”

“I know. But what if it’s a boy?”

“Charlie. I know a boy Charlie and a girl Charlie so you can just your baby Charlie.”

Rey groaned and pinched the top of her nose. Why was this four year old planning her future?

***

Leia had promised to help Rey pick out a dress for the ball, so Rey turned up at the Ambassador’s Residence the following Saturday morning.

The butler, Mr Threepio, showed her up to the sitting room where Leia was having some tea.

“Rey, do join me for some tea before we try finding you a dress.”

The tea was very nice. It was a native blend to Alderaan and what made it extra special was drinking it out of delicate china tea cups with the crest of Alderaan on them.

“So where are we going?” Rey asked when she had finished her tea. With Leia she knew she would go into some shops she wouldn’t dare go into on her own.

“Oh we’re not going anywhere.” Leia was amused by Rey’s confused expression. “Come with me.”

She took Rey’s hand and lead her to one of the spare bedrooms that had been transformed into a dressing room with racks of dresses for her to try on.

“Wow. Did you ask the shops to bring all these here?” Rey ran her hand across one of the racks, feeling the different materials beneath her fingers.

“Some of them I did, but they are here as a backup option.” Leia said.

“Why do you need backups?” Rey asked following Leia to another rack.

“In case you didn’t like any of these.” She pulled out one of the dresses. “These were my mother’s, my birth mother. She was quite the fashion icon in her day. They were left to me and I would love it if you would wear one to the ball.”

“Oh Leia. I don’t know what to say. Are you sure you want me to wear one?”

“Of course. There’s no one else to wear them. I can’t wear them anymore. My mother died young so they are more suited to your age group. Plus the fact, I got fat.”

“No Leia,” Rey went to protest but Leia raised her hand to stop her.

“No it’s true, it’s one of the joys of getting old. So enjoy having a flat stomach while it lasts.” Leia waved away that last part of the conversation. “So, do you want to wear one of my mother’s dresses to the ball?”

“I’d love to.” Rey beamed.

Rey spent the next couple of hours trying on dresses in all manner of different styles. Some were timeless, others were of their time. In the end it came down to two choices: a light and airy, backless, halterneck dress in an ombra of yellow, pink and purple, and a strapless black dress with a tight bodice and long skirt.

“So which is it to be?” Leia asked as they both say back looking at the two dresses on their hangers.

“I don’t know. I hate choosing. I like them both.” bemoaned Rey.

“Personally I like the black one, but bright colours are more you.” said a deep and familiar voice behind them.

“Oh Benny. You’re back.” Rey ran and jumped into his arms, peppering his face with kisses.

“Yes I’m back.” he said squeezing her tight and easily holding her off the ground.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked.

“I didn’t.” He sheepishly put her back down. “I came to give Mother some of Uncle Chewie’s homemade candy then I was coming to see you.”

“Oh,” Rey said. It was rather selfish of her to assume he was only there for her.

“Thank you Ben.” Leia shook the small bag from him and he leaned down so she could give him a kiss. “I always look forward to eating them. But what is this?” She scratched the scruff on his chin. He playfully batted her hand away.

“Don’t you like it?”

Leia turned to Rey. “Make him get rid of it.”

“Well thank you Mother for helping me with my self confidence, but we really should be going.” Be grabbed Rey’s hand and made to pull her out the door.

“Hang on Ben, we were in the middle of something. Rey still needs to pick a dress.” They stopped just inside the door and Ben wrapped his arms around Rey’s waist to hug her from behind. “So the black one or the rainbow one?”

“Rainbow.” Rey answered quickly, she now had an incentive to choose.

“Now that that’s done, bye Mother.” Ben said lifting Rey to carry her out.

“Bye Leia.” Rey called laughing at her and Ben’s ridiculous exit.

Leia just shook her head and smiled. Oh to be young and in love.

The journey back to Ben’s apartment seemed to take longer than it should have due to the fact that both of them were rather eager to get back. Rey had to keep reminding herself that they were in public so they needed to keep their hands to themselves. She wished this was one of the times that Ben had hired a car and driver so they could have the privacy they didn’t on the tube.

Having the car would also mean that they would be dropped off at his door rather than having to walk the ten minutes from the station.

When they finally got there, they barely made it to the bedroom before they were on top of each other and working out the pent up emotions they both had from the past month.

Rey was utterly worn out and satisfied when they had finished, she didn’t realise she missed being with Ben with way so much.

“I missed you.” She was tucked up against his side, her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

“I missed you too.” Ben pressed a kiss into her forehead. His fingers gently caressed the soft skin of her upper arm.

“Are you doing ok now?” she asked.

“Better.” he said holding her closer. “I just didn’t expect it to hit me so hard. I thought I wouldn’t care when my father died but I did.”

“I think it means that you did love him.”

“I know.” Ben sighed and they laid in silence for a few moments.

“So what were you up to in the extra two weeks you were away?” Rey asked.

“Working on a surprise.”

“And what is this surprise? You said it would make it up to me for you being away so long.” she moved so she was laying on top of him more.

“It’s not ready yet, but as soon as it’s finished, you can have it.”

“In that case,” she said flirtatiously, starting to kiss her way up his neck. “You’ll have to make it up to me another way.”

“Is that so?” Ben said in a very low and seductive voice. He rolled them over so he was on top, caging her in. Rey bit her lip in anticipation.

“One thing though. This,” she ran her finger over the hair on his top lip. “This has to go. It’s rather scratchy.”

***

Rey stood admiring herself in the mirror of one of the guest bedrooms at the Alderaanian Embassy in Coruscant. She knew she was ready for the ball a little bit too early, but she had been too excited to wear her dress and get her hair done that she couldn’t wait any longer.

The dress was by far the fanciest thing she had ever worn and having never been to prom at school or the end of year ball at university, she was very much looking forward to tonight.

In the reflection, Rey watched Ben getting dressed. The way his stiff dress shirt hugged his body was doing things to her. If she thought he looked good in the ordinary suits he wore to work, the tuxedo he was wearing to the ball was on a whole other level. She was determined not to give into these feelings, at least not while she was wearing his grandmother’s priceless dress. They could have fun later.

There was a knock at the door. “Come in.” said Ben who was concentrating on doing up his cuff links.

Leia walked in dressed in her navy blue ball gown. Her hair was braided to look like a crown, a mourning ribbon woven through it.

“Look at you two. Don’t you look so handsome together?” Leia clutched her hands over her heart.

“I’ve not finished dressing yet Mother.” Ben said.

“Yes, but I know what you look like when you are and I know I’m right.” She turned to Rey. “It makes me so happy to see you in my mother’s dress.”

Rey smiled. “They were all so beautiful, she had good taste.”

“I should have donated them years ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. They’re the only real thing I have of hers.” Leia looked sad, but straightened herself up so she could continue. “The reason I came in here was to see if you’d like to wear these earrings.”

“Oh Leia, they’re beautiful.” Rey immediately knew she had to wear the pearl and diamond earrings. They were comfortable in her ears and complimented her dress perfectly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome my dear.” Leia turned to Ben and reached up to straighten his bow tie. “Now Nash Windrider and his photographer from Alderaan Life are going to be here so please smile in the pictures and actually look like you want to be here.”

“I have a reason to this year.” Ben looked over his mother at Rey. It made her giggle and blush.

“How sweet.” Leia said. “If he asks you anything be polite. If you don’t want to answer just decline nicely, don’t threaten to punch him again.”

“Yes Mother.”

“And lastly. Please, please, please don’t sneak off in the middle of the party. Everyone knows what you are doing and it’s kind of embarrassing.” Rey and Ben looked at each other slightly mortified.

“I know it can be difficult to resist.” Leia continued. “I remember this one time when your father and I were younger -”

“Thank you Mother.” Ben quickly shooed her out the room. “We’ll see you down there.” He banged his head on the door after he closed it behind her. Rey couldn’t help but laugh at how uncomfortable Leia had made Ben feel.

Rey stood in the beautifully decorated ballroom watching people arrive. She had no idea who most of the people were but she liked seeing what everyone was wearing. Pretty much all the men were in tuxes, the only real variation was Lando with his cape lined with pink silk.

Rey would have preferred to stand at the edge of the room and wait for her friends to arrive but being on the arm of the host’s son didn’t allow for that. Despite how much Ben also hated it, the guests would come up to talk to him then she would get pulled into the conversation especially if they recognised her dress.

“Hey Rey!” she heard the friendly voice of Rose from across the room.

Oh thank God, Rey thought. She was so relieved, she hoped she hadn’t said it out loud.

“Rose you look great.” Rey said. Rose was wearing a strapless red dress with a sweetheart neckline and long flowy skirt. It showcased her curves making Rey quite jealous.

“Thank you and you look very vintage.” They linked arms and Rose pulled Rey over to a table where rows of Champagne glasses were set up.

“Thanks it was Ben’s grandmother’s.”

“I know you don’t really drink, but we paid enough to be here -”

“I haven’t paid anything. I just turned up with Ben.”

“Fine, I’ve paid enough to be here so I’m going to enjoy myself and this free Champagne.” Rose picked up two glasses and gave one to Rey. “Cheers.”

“We should probably take one for Ben he hates talking to people.”

To their surprise, when they got back to Ben he was stood there talking to Jess, who was wearing a shimmery purple dress that draped over her bump nicely.

“I didn’t know you were coming Jess.” Rey said handing Ben his drink so she could give Jess a small hug. Jess usually told them everywhere she was going and every outfit she had bought at work even when none of them were interested.

“I wasn’t but Mr Jinn brought me. He said I should have some fun before Genevieve gets here.” She smoothed the fabric over her very prominent bump. “I probably won’t stay all night, I get very tired and my back hurts.”

“That’s a shame.” Rey said before Rose got her attention by choking on her drink. “Rose, are you ok?”

“Yes.” Rose said hoarsely between coughs some of her drink dribbling down her chin. “Is that Finn?”

She pointed over the other side of the room where Finn was standing in his tux looking around him in awe.

“Quick take this.” Rose shoved her half drunk glass into Rey’s free hand. “Does my hair look ok? Is there lipstick on my teeth?”

“Rose what are you doing?” Rey looked at her friend in confusion.

“Somebody likes Finn.” Jess said in a sing song manner.

“What, you like Finn?” Rey said in surprise. When had that started?

“Boy looks hella good in a tux.” Rey felt Ben nudge her but didn’t turn around because she knew he would be smirking. After all, Rose’s reaction to Finn was the same as her reaction to Ben.

Finn spotted them and came over.

“Jess, Rey you’re looking lovely this evening.” Finn said. “Ben,” Finn offered him his hand to shake. “Sorry about your father.”

“Thank you.” Ben said then shared a look with Rey. They were both pleased to see that Finn was behaving like a mature adult.

Finally Finn turned to Rose. Rey saw him swallow thickly before he spoke. “Hey Rose, you look really, really nice. Red really suits you.” he said nervously.

Rey wondered is Rose minded, or noticed that his gaze lingered on her boobs for a little bit too long. She coughed to get their attention before things got too awkward.

“Well, you’re all got drinks, I should get one too. Rey, I thought you didn’t drink that much?” Finn said taking notice of the two glasses she was holding.

“I don’t.” Rey tried to give one of the glasses back to Rose but she ignored her.

“I don’t have a drink either, let me come with you.” Rose said linking arms with Finn and walking over to the Champagne table. Rey slightly aghast turned to Jess.

“Did you know about that?” Jess said giggling.

“Not a clue.” said Rey wondering what she should do with Rose’s old glass.

“I wonder if they’ll come back. We’ll get to tease them about this on Monday.”

They were soon joined by Gwen and Hux who had just arrived.

“Oh look, Hux is in a tux. You could make a children’s book about it.” Ben said with a grin.

“Haha very funny Solo, not like you say that every year.” Hux grumbled.

“Ignore him.” Gwen said but it was unclear which man she said it to. She was wearing a long shiny silver dress with a slit up one side. The heels she was wearing made her tower over her husband more than usual and made her even taller than Ben. Rey felt even smaller than normal even though she was wearing heels herself.

“Rey darling, you look absolutely wonderful.” Gwen came over to her and gave air kisses. “Why do you have two drinks?”

“Someone left me holding theirs but I don’t think they’re coming back for it.”

“Let’s get rid of it then.” Gwen took the extra glass and swapped it with a new one for herself from the tray of a passing server.

“I’ve been looking forward to tonight. Last year I was fat and tired and a little bit too depressed to enjoy myself.” she said knocking back her drink.

“Do remember if you enjoy yourself too much, you’re going to have to deal with three children while hungover tomorrow.” Ben pointed out.

“That’s future Gwen’s problem, present Gwen is going to have fun on her night away from the children.”

“Good evening ladies, gentlemen, Solo.” the man’s voice and face were pleasant until the last word when they momentarily turned ugly.

“Windrider.” said Ben in the same tone.

The man ignored him and carried on. “My name is Nash Windrider from Alderaan Life magazine. Would you consent to being in a photograph to be included in our next issue and online edition?”

Jess squeaked in excitement as the five of them lined up for the photo. Ben grumbled but Rey squeezed his arm to remind him to behave, he had promised his mother.

Nash went around them collecting their names so he could caption the picture correctly. When Rey gave her name he said, “Ah the girl we know nothing about.”

“Why would you want to know anything about me, I’m no one.” Rey said wondering if he had meant to sound so creepy.

“On the contrary. You’ve been seen with Mr Solo for some months now, arrive with him in Alderaan, walk behind the coffin at the funeral and now you’re wearing one of Padme Amadarla’s most iconic dresses. You’re not no one.”

“Alright Windrider you got your picture, now move on.” Ben said sternly but he kept his temper in check.

“Very well but you’ll be hearing from me soon.”

“What was that about?” Rey whispered to Ben when Nash was gone.

“For some stupid reason, the people of Alderaan are obsessed with the monarchy even thought they abolished it. That includes an interest in me and who I’m dating.”

“But why does it matter, you’re not going to be running the country one day, they don’t need to know about you and me.”

“Well there are some members of the government who want to see me take over from Mother when she retires.”

“Would you though?” Rey asked.

“Probably not. I know how much time Mum spent away from her family and I don’t want that.” Ben gently stroked her exposed shoulder.

The squeal of microphone feedback filled the room getting everyone’s attention and making them turn to where Leia was stood on an elevated platform.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the annual Alderaan Charity Ball.” A polite round of applause came from the guests. “As always my speech will be brief but this year it will be more personal than usual. When my husband Han passed away last month, people asked me whether this event would be going ahead, and I said of course because Han would never pass up the opportunity to have friends and family gathered round. So tonight we are here in his memory and all donations will be going to various heart disease charities.” There was another round of applause. “Enough from me. Let’s eat and drink and dance to the small hours.”

As the night drew on, their group of friends began to thin out. Predictable, Jess was the first to leave. Mr Jinn took her home after a couple of hours, but she said she’d had fun and was glad she had come out.

Rey had only seen brief flashes of Finn and Rose all evening, they were off doing their own thing. Leia was right, it was kind of embarrassing knowing what that might be.

Gwen and Hux were truly enjoying their night off from parent duties and had probably drunk too much. They were practically sitting in each others laps, leaning heavily against the other and finding whatever it was they were telling each other utterly hilarious.

That left Ben and Rey alone, together on the dance floor slowly swaying to the song the band was playing. Rey didn’t drink much, so Ben hadn’t either so they were practically sober with just a nice buzz about them. But now it was making Rey sleepy.

“How long before we can go to bed and it not be counted as sneaking off? I’m not horny anymore, just tired.” To prove her point Rey stifled a yawn by pressing her face into Ben’s chest, probably leaving make up marks on his white shirt.

“You can go up if you want, I’ll stay with Mother a bit longer.”

“How is she still going?” They both looked over to where Leia was animatedly talking to a group of people.

“I have absolutely no idea.” said Ben.

“Well hello, hello.” The suave figure of Lando Calrissian saddled up to them.

“Hey Uncle Lando.” Ben said.

“I came over to inform you that you have just lost me a bet with your mother.”

“How so?”

“I bet her that you would have snuck off by now.”

Rey wasn’t impressed, Ben just laughed. “You may want to contest that as she told us we couldn’t do that and contrary to popular belief, I do listen to my mother sometimes.”

“Just like her to cheat as well. Perhaps you’ll care to make a wager with me.” Lando said slyly.

“On what?” Ben asked.

“On your very tall friends having another baby next April.” They all looked over to where Gwen and Hux were exchanging sloppy kisses, their hands dangerously close to where they shouldn’t be in public.

“Done.” said Ben. “And an extra hundred if it’s a girl.” He and Lando shook on it.

“What are you doing? How can you possibly think that that is going to happen?” Rey said folding her arms. “They’re just kissing.”

“And now they’re doing what they think is subtly sneaking out.” Ben said and Rey looked over her shoulder to see that it was true.

“And they had the same look in their eyes that they did two years ago when they accepted the key card to my suite at the Bespin Hotel, unlike you two, and what happened two years ago?” asked Lando.

“Alfie happened.” Ben answered. “And that is precisely the reason I am never sleeping in that room.”

“I have it regularly deep cleaned.” Lando said defensively.

“You guys are weird. I’m going to bed.” Rey said with another yawn.

***

“So,” Rey and Jess said together as they sandwiched Finn between them giving him no room to escape. “How was Saturday night?”

Finn smiled bashfully. “It was pretty great.”

“But seriously, when did this happen? How did I not notice?” Rey asked.

“I mean you have been pretty caught up with Ben the past couple of months.” Finn said.

“I suppose that’s true, but what about you and Rose?”

“She’s my friend and I’ve found myself liking her more and more. And then on Saturday night when she was wearing that dress, ah man it just hit me like a ton of bricks.”

Jess excitedly clapped her hands. “Does this mean you’re a couple now? Are there going to be any little Finnerose babies?”

“We didn’t go that far. I have a bit more respect for other people’s houses. Unlike Ben’s evil ginger friend. Stumbled upon him and his wife, they didn’t seem to care.”

“Gross, we don’t want to know about them.” Rey tried to get that image out of her head. “We want to know about you.”

“Fine. Me and Rose, we’re going to give it a go. We’re just going to see what happens.”

“Ahh, Finn’s got a girlfriend. Now you can go on double dates with Rey and Ben.” Rey and Finn just looked at each other. “What? I have to live vicariously through you guys since I’m not getting any.”

***

Rey and Ben were in the middle of preparing their mid-week meal when they heard his phone ring.

“Can you get that? My hands are kind of full.” Ben said. Full wasn’t the right word. His hands were covered in a gooey blend of mince and spices that would be turned into the meatballs they were having for dinner. Rey had just been chopping vegetables so she just needed to wipe her hands before she answered the phone.

“It’s Hux.” Rey said reading the caller ID.

“Bet it’s not.”

Rey answered the video call and Ben was immediately proven right as she was greeted by the sight of Bertie and Alice, their excited little faces bouncing around and too close to the camera.

“Rey!” they cried in unison.

“Hi guys.” She waved at them through the camera.

“Where’s Uncle Ben?” Alice asked because of course she would.

“He’s here.” She moved so that he would be on camera. “We’re in the middle of making dinner and his hands are covered in gunk.”

He wiggled his fingers at the camera so they could see. “Eew!”

“So why are you two calling us this evening?” Ben asked.

Bertie giggled. “You have to guess.”

“We have to guess Rey. It must be big, they seem pretty excited.”

“Yes they do. Whatever could it be?” Rey and Ben did their best impressions of a couple of children’s television presenters, for of course they knew why they were so excited.

“We’re going to Dreamworld.” Alice blurted out.

Bertie looked a little hurt. “You were supposed to let them guess.”

“Wow you’re going to Dreamworld, that’s amazing.” Rey said hamming it up. “You must be really looking forward to it.”

“I’m so excited, I’m not going to be able to sleep.” Alice said bouncing up and down.

“Me too.” said Bertie. Off camera somewhere Hux could be heard groaning about this, questioning why they had to tell them right before bed time.

“You should try and sleep though.” Ben said calmly. “It’ll come quicker if you do and you won’t be all tired and grumpy tomorrow.”

“Ok Uncle Ben. Will we see you when we get back?”

“Of course you will. We want to hear all about it.” Rey couldn’t help but notice that he made sure they knew to include her.

“And bring us back presents.” She knew it was cheeky to add this in there, but they always asked for presents.

“Adults don’t get presents.” Alice said.

“Alice shush, we’re getting them a present.” Gwen said sternly from behind the camera. “Now say goodbye so Ben and Rey can have their dinner.”

“Bye Ben. Bye Rey.” the children called and dropped the phone leaving them with a shot of the ceiling.

“Have fun on holiday Armitage.” Ben called not giving up an opportunity to tease his friend.

“Shut up Benjamin.”

***

“You know that surprise I promised you.” Ben said as they were walking home on Friday night.

“The one you promised ages ago and it still hasn’t appeared so you’ve had to make it up to me in other ways?” Rey looked up at him, she was teasing of course.

“Yeah, that one. Well it’s now ready.”

“Yay! What is it?”

“You just have to wait until we get home.”

Usually when they got home, they would change out of their sweaty work clothes into something more comfortable, but today Rey wanted to know what her surprise was, she had been waiting long enough.

“Ok fine. Go sit on the sofa.” Ben said grabbing a drink out the fridge. Rey obeyed and he got his tablet so he could cast something from it on to the television.

“This is just Porg Island.” she said as the theme song started playing. “No wait it’s different.” Little Pip had been added to the title sequence. “It’s a new episode. You went to work on the new series didn’t you?”

Ben nodded and paused the video so she wouldn’t miss any of it her excited state.

“Don’t you want to wait until the kids come back from their holiday?”

“No. I kind of made the series with them in mind but what I’m going to show you is all for you.” He gently booped her on the end of her nose.

She curled up into Ben’s side as they watched the episode unfurl together. An old, scruffy, familiar looking porg had arrived and was doing tricks to entertain the little porglets.

“That’s Porgi!” Rey squealed when she recognised him. “You put Porgi in your show. Thank you. This is awesome and worth the wait.”

She climbed onto his lap to give him a hug and a big kiss.

“It’s not over yet.” Ben said trying to contain his smile.

“No?”

“No. We’re working on the whole series, but I wanted these two episodes ready first so I could show them to you.”

Rey got off his lap so they could watch the second episode. She wondered what it could be, what could possibly top seeing Porgi immortalised on the small screen?

It started off with Percy and Penny playing near some rock pools when they saw a new sea serpent. This one was smaller than Kylo and was brown in colour, the ridges in the back of her head were worn round resembling the three buns Rey wore her hair in.

She clapped her hand over her mouth when she realised what Ben had done for her.

“Rey are you -” he started to ask but she shushed him so she could watch the rest of the episode.

Kylo fell for her immediately and the rest of the episode was a series of failed attempts to woo her. He wasn’t very good at it, he had spent too much time on his own and he didn’t know how to interact with other sea serpents.

It was sweet that Percy and Penny tried to help, but they were just porglets, they didn’t know what they were doing either.

But it turned out that the new sea serpent was sweet on Kylo as well, he had just swam away from her when things started to go wrong, before she could say anything.

The episode ended with the two of them swimming off into the sunset.

“Rey, are you alright? Was it ok?” Ben asked with concern. It was then that she realised there were tears in her eyes, happy tears.

“Yes I’m fine and that was perfect. Thank you.” They sat and hugged each other for a while.

“Do you want to know what we called her?” Ben asked with his head on her shoulder.

“What?”

“Keira.”


	12. August

“Why?” Ben asked.

“Because we thought it would be fun and different.” said Rey.

They were having lunch with Finn and Rose and the girls had just told the guys that they had booked for them to go indoor rock climbing for their double date. Finn was down for it but Ben wasn’t too keen.

“Well we picked what we are doing this time, you guys can pick what we do next time.” Rose said as a compromise.

“Fine.” Ben grumbled and went back to his pasta salad. Rey frowned at him. He had agreed to go on a double date, he shouldn’t be acting so grumpy about it.

“It’s the summer holidays, the place is just going to be full of kids.” Ben was still complaining about it when they arrived at the activity centre at the weekend.

“Yes but me and Rose managed to get an adult only session so you won’t be shown up by some little kid.” She’d meant it as a joke but Ben wasn’t laughing.

They met Finn and Rose there and were introduced to their instructor Cody.

“Right, have any of you guys done any climbing before?” Cody asked. Ben was the only one to raise his hand. “Excellent. What kind of level are we looking at?”

“I climbed Appenza Peak in Alderaan when I was sixteen.” Ben said.

“Nice one,” Cody was impressed, but Rey didn’t know what it meant. She looked at Rose who just shrugged she didn’t know what it was either. Maybe it was one of the mountains she saw from the palace window? If they had been in Alderaan for a nice sight seeing trip she might have known about it.

“Done much since?” Cody continued. Ben shook his head. “No worries, we’ll get these guys on the beginners wall but you’ll probably want to go on the more advanced walls.”

Rey was concentrating on putting on her harness and other safety equipment when she heard Rose hum in approval.

“What?” she asked.

“You are a lucky girl, aren't you.” Rose nodded over to where Ben was getting ready. The harnesses they had to wear did have the effect of emphasising certain areas on men.

“Hey, eyes off my man’s bulge.” Rey said pretending to be offended.

“At least I have my own man to ogle.” Rey rolled her eyes and tried not to look at Finn.

Half an hour later, after some helpful pointers and warm up exercises, Rey, Finn and Rose were half way up the beginners wall.

“This is harder than I thought it would be.” Rose said breathlessly. Rey nodded in agreement. Her arms were burning and she could feel the sweat under her helmet.

“At least Ben’s finding it easy.” she said having twisted slightly to see how he was doing on one of the harder walls. He had just reached the top, again, and was abseiling down.

“Oh please,” said Finn. “The guy is half way up the wall before he’s even started.”

“He’s good at this, I wonder why he didn’t want to come?” Rose asked.

Rey shrugged. “I’ll find out later. But right now I am determined to get to the top. If small children can do this so can we. I am not about to be beaten by a child.”

Rose admitted defeat but Finn and Rey made it to the top, it took them the rest of their session but they made it.

Their limbs were too shaky by the time they finished to go home so they decided to recover some strength and grab some food from the fast food kiosk. Ben and Finn played some air hockey in the arcade while Rey dragged Rose to get the food.

“If you were just going to stare at your phone the whole time, you could have left me at the table. My arms hurt.” Rose moaned leaning on Rey heavily.

“I just wanted to find out what the Appenza Peak was.”

“I could have done that for you while I waited, sitting down.” Rey gave Rose a look and she backed down. “Alright, what have you found?”

“It says here that the Appenza Peak is a spiritual location and that climbing it was traditionally used as a rite of passage for the heirs to the throne of Alderaan. The climb almost claimed the life of Breha the last Queen of Alderaan, but she recovered and made a second successful climb when her daughter Princess Leia came of age. Even though the monarchy was abolished, Leia’s son Ben Solo, made the climb on his own when he was sixteen.”

“Wow,” Rose said when Rey finished reading. “How did you not already know that?”

“Because Ben hasn’t told me about it.”

“You mean you haven’t looked him up online?”

“Why would I do that? If it was worth telling me he would have told me.” She had tried looking him up when she first found out who he really was but it just made her more angry and upset so she stopped.

“So why hasn’t he told you about this?” Rose asked. “Seems like it should be something to be proud of. Cody was impressed.”

“Maybe he’s not proud of it? Maybe he didn’t actually want to do it? Maybe,” a thought occurred to her. “Maybe he wanted Leia to go up with him? Like she did with her mother, but she didn’t.”

“Sounds plausible with everything else you’ve told me about his family.”

After they had finished sharing a massive plate of greasy nachos, the couples went their separate ways.

“Did you have a good time in the end?” Rey asked Ben.

“I did actually. I haven’t done any climbing in a long time, I’d forgotten how much fun it was.”

“Yeah, fun.” She rubbed her arching shoulders.

“Do you regret picking this activity?”

“I know Rose does, but we thought we had to pick something physical to keep you guys happy. We didn’t think you’d like painting pottery.”

“I don’t mind painting. Me and Finn have had to supervise kids doing it for long enough.”

“Ok we’ll do that next time then.” Rey said.

“No. You said me and Finn could choose what we do next time and we already have a plan.” Ben said slyly.

“Oh no. I don’t like that look on your face.” Rey cringed.

***

“No.” Ben said angrily. “I’m... we’re not doing it.”

“I think you should Ben. You have an obligation.” Leia said calmly from the other end of the phone line. Rey was supposed to be in on the conversation too but Ben’s opinions were louder than hers.

“I don’t see why. I’m a private citizen, we’re private citizens.”

“But your lineage means something here. They’re not asking much, just one interview with Alderaan Life and as you didn’t do the one they wanted to do for your thirtieth birthday, I think you should do this one.” reasoned Leia.

True to his word, Nash Windrider had got in touch about doing an interview and photo shoot with Ben and Rey for his magazine.

“But they’re just going to ask about Dad.” he said sadly.

“We can’t just act like it didn’t happen Ben, of course they’re going to ask about it.”

“And if it’s me and Rey, they’re going to ask about marriage and babies and I get enough of that from you.”

“If you’d have noticed son, I haven’t actually said anything about that for a while. I’ve decided to just be happy you’ve found someone and aren’t spending all your time alone.”

“Thanks Mother.” Ben said but not without a hint of sarcasm.

“We could demand that we get final say on all questions asked.” Kaydel piped up from Leia’s end. “Minimise the number of questions about Han and weddings and babies.”

Ben just mumbled something the rest of them couldn’t hear.

“Rey what do you think? Ben’s kind of overruled you so far.” Leia asked.

“If we do this, will they leave us alone?” She looked at Ben who throw his arms in the air as if asking the universe why.

“They should do, until anything major happens.” said Leia.

“Well I don’t see why not.” Ben looked like he was going to argue but she cut him off. “If they’ll get off our backs for a while, then I think we should do it. There are things that I don’t want to be asked about either but if we know the questions we can practice our answers. Besides, I’d like to have a nice proper picture of us.”

They had taken a few selfies but Rey wanted a nice picture of the two of them that she could print out and put in a frame.

“I’m overruled aren’t I?” Ben said in defeat.

“Yes.” Rey and Leia said at the same time.

“Very well. As long as we’re making demands, you can use your influence to get anyone but Windrider to do the interview.”

“But Nash always does the high profile interviews.” said Leia.

“Well today is one of his underlings lucky days, they get to do it instead."

The interview was to be held at the Alderaanian Embassy in Coruscant. The photographer set up in one of the many sitting rooms.

The stylist put Rey in a white silk blouse with a light weight back pencil skirt and some dark pink heels that matched her lipstick. Her hair had been done in a much sleeker version of her usual three bun style. She thought she looked quite sophisticated and Ben looked as classy as ever in his well tailored grey suit.

The shoot went well and Rey was surprised that she didn’t feel that self conscious when the photographer told them to pose. He showed them a preview and they were very pleased with the results. There were a couple that Rey wanted a copy of.

The interview went well as well. Nash Windrider’s replacement was too nervous, or scared to deviate from the decided upon questions, so Rey and Ben were able to give their rehearsed answers without an issue.

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” Rey said giving Ben a playful nudge when they had finished. She was a bit sad she had to give the clothes back.

“Yeah, yeah.” was all Ben said.

***

“What even is half this stuff?” Rey said more to herself than anyone else. She was looking over the gift registry for Jess’ baby shower which was only a couple of days away. She knew she was leaving it a bit late to get her gift but she had thought it would be quite easy to get a hold of something, it wasn’t like having a baby was a rare thing.

But looking at the list, she was just surprised, how could one little baby need all this stuff?

Rey showed the list to Ben as he was the closest person and would have more of an idea than she did.

“She’s a first time mum and there’s probably so much stuff on the list because every time someone told her she needs something she’s listened.” he said. “What are you going to get her?”

“I have no idea. Something not too expensive.” She’d looked up some of the items and bulked at the prices.

“A couple of books might be a good idea.” Ben suggested.

“Babies can’t read.” Rey said.

“Yes but you read to them. Getting a personalised one would make it special.”

“I could do that if Jess could decide on a name. It changes every two days. Just this week she’s been called Eloise and Honor.”

“Oh well, just go to the book shop and find something with plenty of pictures. Ones you can wipe clean are a good bet.”

“Why do you need to wipe clean books?” Rey asked.

“For one they are stronger so the baby’s not going to be able to rip it and secondly babies are messy, oh so messy.”

Jess had hired the function room of a restaurant for her white and gold themed baby shower. Rey got there in time this time wearing a white dress with a big pastel flower print on it as she didn’t want to wear something pure white when she was on the tube. She’d even found a nice white and gold wrapping paper to wrap the books she’d bought in.

There were more people at the baby shower than there had been at the gender reveal party but once again, Rey didn’t know most of them.

She left her present in the pile with the rest of them and found Finn and Rose hiding in a corner.

“Hey Rey. No Ben?” Rose said.

“No he said he ‘had work to do’” Jess had invited Ben but he made an excuse that Rey didn’t believe, so now she was Finn and Rose’s third wheel for the afternoon.

“Oh well.” she said.

“What are we supposed to do at this party?” Rey asked looking around for the food table.

“Watch Jess open presents and act in awe at everything she gets.” Finn said cynically. “What did you get her?”

“Some baby books. What about you?” asked Rey.

“Some bibs with cute little sheep on them. I thought about getting a couple of onesies, but I didn’t want to get something that wouldn’t fit Jess’ style and she reject them.” said Rose.

“You say that now, but when she’s sleep deprived and is having to change the baby’s outfit for the third time before lunch, she won’t care.” said Finn, then her sighed. “Just two more weeks of Jess at work then the blissful quiet while she’s on maternity leave.”

“You know she’s going to constantly send us baby updates, right?” Rey said raising an eyebrow at Finn.

***

“See. This isn’t so bad.” Ben said.

“I suppose.” Rey replied putting her arms out to catch Alfie in case he fell. He managed to balance himself and looked at her like he was pleased with himself for doing it.

She and Ben were babysitting Alfie while the rest of the family went last minute back to school shopping. Rey would have questioned whether doing the back to school shop the last week of August was a good idea but Gwen was in full military mum mode, which was kind of scary, so she remained quite.

It was the first time they had truly been left alone with one of the children and Rey had been a bit daunted. At least if it was Bertie or Alice, they could have a conversation, but Alfie only spoke baby babel. Although he seemed happy enough waddling around the room and bringing them random toys. It was quite nice actually, being part of the game Alfie was making up.

Suddenly Alfie stopped with a look of supreme concentration on his face, doing the one thing Rey had been dreading the most.

“Yeah, you’re dealing with that.” Rey said to Ben covering her nose as the smell filled the room.

Ben laughed at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to learn?”

“No I’m good thanks. Now please go clean him up.”

“Ok. Come on stinky butt.” Ben picked Alfie up and carried him upstairs. The baby protested. He didn’t seem to mind the mess he’d made and wanted to keep playing.

Rey wondered how Jess would cope with her baby’s messes. She could imagine her dressing the baby up and other cute things but not the dirtier more real side of motherhood.

An hour or so later, the others arrived back from their shopping trip. Bertie and Alice were their usual hyperactive selves, Gwen and Hux looked worn out and there was something else about them that Rey couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

Gwen went straight upstairs with her handbag as soon as they got in blanking everyone else.

“Why don’t you two show Ben and Rey what you got?” Hux suggested and gently pushed them into the living room before following his wife upstairs.

Bertie and Alice didn’t think their parents were acting weird and cheerfully showed Rey and Ben their new lunch boxes and shoes and a whole load of boring white shirts, socks and pants.

“Mummy went into a shop on her own and we got to go on the merry-go-round.” Alice said. “We never get to go on the merry-go-round.”

“That’s nice.” Rey said but her attention had been drawn out of the room by Hux’s heavy footsteps on the stairs and then him almost sleep walking down the hallway into the kitchen.

Rey gestured to Ben to go find out what was going on. He handed Alfie over to her and frowned when he heard the distinct sound of spirit bottles clinking together.

“I’m hungry.” Bertie said. “Mummy said we couldn’t have lunch while we were out, said we had food at home.”

“Ok we’ll go have lunch, but first let's put all the shopping back in the bags ready to be put away.” Rey said hoping it would give Ben some time to sort Hux out.

When they went through to the kitchen, Ben was putting a bottle of whiskey back on the high shelf and Hux was sat at the table with his head in his hands.

“What’s wrong Daddy?” Alice asked.

“Oh nothing really. Daddy’s just had a shock. A very big shock.” He folded his arms and rested his head on the table.

Rey turned to Ben for some clarification. He mouthed the word baby at her and tried not to look smug that he knew this would happen.

“So I’ve known two people who got pregnant this year and neither of them have been happy about it. I thought people were meant to be happy about it especially married people.” Rey said to Ben when they were on their way home.

“They probably are when they’ve planned it or have been waiting a long time for it to happen.” he said. “Hux and Gwen are just in shock at the moment, they’ll come around to the idea.”

Gwen had taken a while but she eventually came downstairs. She had taken time to normalise her appearance but it was still obvious she’d been crying. Bertie and Alice could tell something was wrong but they kept quiet and ate their lunch like good little children.

“I still hate the idea of it.” Rey said.

“I know, that is why you eventually went to the doctor and got an implant.” Ben said. “But like it or not, you’re going to be around a couple of babies very soon.”

Rey groaned and wondered if she’d have the same problem with Baby Pava and Baby Hux that she’d had with every other child she had met.

***

August bank holiday weekend also happened to be the hottest couple of days of the year so far. It was too hot to do anything even just lounging around. Rey kept having to unstick herself from Ben’s sofa. She was glad she had somewhere else to go, for as hot as Ben’s house was, hers would be unbearable. The air con in her office would have been great right about now but at least she didn’t have to think about getting on the tube. Hers was an older line with outdated trains with poor ventilation.

Rey had to think of something to take her mind off of the heat. The sight of Ben shirtless, the slight sheen of sweat on his perfectly chiselled chest, wasn’t that appealing to her. Damn you heat for making me not find my boyfriend attractive!

Ben had opted to just wear a pair of shorts, she was not better, just putting a vest top on over her underwear.

“Did you know it’s exactly one year since I moved to Coruscant?” Rey said.

“Really.” Ben looked up from his tablet and continued to fan himself with a take away menu.

“Yeah and in a couple of days, I will have been working at Resistance a whole year.”

“Make sure you ask for a pay rise at your annual review.” he said.

“Will do.”

“So how has this year been then?” Ben asked.

“Honestly, it has been the best year of my life.” Rey gave him a big smile. “The first month wasn’t great, I had barely any money and I was living off instant noodles, but things got much, much better. Obviously there were other low moments, but for the first time in my life the good outweighed the bad.”

“And what would you say the best thing about this year has been?” he said suggestively.

“You want me to say you don’t you?”

“Not if it’s not true, then I will try not to be offended.”

Rey smiled. She wanted to tease him more but he was right. “My favourite thing about this year was making some proper friends. People who want to get to know me and bring me into their family. People who have opened me up to new experiences and taken me to new places. Because if it wasn’t for them, it would just be me and Porgi like it always had been.”

“I would give you a hug right now, but in this heat that feels like the least desirable thing to do.”

“Yes. You stay over there you big sweaty man.”

Ben laughed. “Good point.” Then he sobered up as if expecting things to get serious. “What was the worst thing about this year?”

“Already mentioned it, eating instant noodles for a month.”

“Really?” His expression lightened and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Really. When we fell out in January, we eventually worked past the issue and now we have a really good relationship. Han’s death hit us pretty hard but we are accepting it. Instant noodles though,” she shuddered. “I can’t stand the thought of them. I feel nauseous every time I walk past them in the supermarket.”

"Don’t think I’ve ever had instant noodles.” Ben said.

“Well you can have them one night when I’m not here but I wouldn’t recommend them.” said Rey. “What about you? What was your favourite thing about this year?”

“This seems like a very strange thing to be doing at the end of August. Usually you’d do this at the end of December.”

“You started it. So what’s your favourite thing? Is it me?”

Ben did a small laugh. “In a way. My favourite thing was realising that I could have my own life and future.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last year, the only future I could see for myself was being the rich childless uncle and maybe take over First Order Financial one day, but that was it. I didn’t go anywhere or do anything for myself. But then a random woman started talking to me and she changed all that.”

Rey smiled and reached out her hand. It may have been too hot to hug but she still wanted some physical contact. Ben felt the same and his hand met hers, their fingers intertwining and they felt content.

“The future’s scary though.” Rey said. “When I was younger I had everything planned out so I could get the hell out of Jakku, but now that I’m here, I’m not sure how I want things to go.”

Ben hummed thoughtfully. “I think I know one thing.” He got up and went into his office. When he came back, he was holding something behind his back.

He cleared his throat. “Rey, I may not have known you for very long in the grand scheme of things, but I don’t feel that matters so much when you’re in love.”

Rey looked at him quizzically. What was he doing?

“After recent events,” Ben continued. “I have come to realise that you shouldn’t just let life pass you by waiting for something to happen to you, you’ve got to make it happen or it could be too late and all you’re left with are regrets.”

He came and stood in front of her, then knelt down. Rey still confused as to what he was doing, was suddenly hit by the realisation. He couldn’t be, could he? She scrambled a bit to sit up properly. Her thought was further cemented when he brought out a small box from behind his back. Was this really happening?

“Rey Bennet, will you,” he opened the box. “Move in with me?” Inside the box was a set of keys for his apartment.

She stared at him while a feeling washed over her, she realised it was relief.

Rey grabbed a cushion and hit him with it. “Why would you ask me like that?”

Ben fell to the floor laughing. “I thought it would be funny.”

“I thought you were proposing.” she said a little bit too loud but she wasn’t angry.

“Are you disappointed I’m not?” he asked more seriously.

“Not really. It would be nice, but when you do, please make sure that I’m not a big sweaty mess.”

“Noted.” he grinned at the prospect. “So do you want to move in with me? We could stay here or find somewhere new that will be all ours.”

“Let’s find somewhere new. But you’ll have to take the lead, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Will do.” He playfully slipped the key ring onto her left ring finger.

“Idiot.” she said not unkindly and lightly hit him with the cushion again. “But you’re my idiot.” Rey leaned over and kissed him. She couldn’t believe how great her life was now and it was all because she broke the golden rule of tube travel.


	13. Epilogue

*** Rey’s 25th Birthday ***

Rey held Ben’s hand in a death grip. She was feeling a mixture of both fear and excitement. Fear because they were in a helicopter and she still wasn’t a very confident flier, and excitement because they were on their way to the real Porg Island, Ahch-To.

It was the first time that Charles Bacca, Ben’s Uncle Chewie, had opened up the nature reserve he ran to wildlife photographers and filmmakers. A select few had been invited and Chewie had opened up the invitation to Rey and Ben as well. Rey knew she had to go and even more so because the trip coincided with her birthday.

The island was known to be windy and damp all year round so the landing was bumpy but the expert pilot brought them in as smoothly as he could.

They were all bundled up in waterproofs and walking boots, and the island only had basic facilities. Some people would be staying in a cabin while others, like Rey and Ben, would be camping in a tent. It wasn’t the most glamorous way to spend her birthday, last year they had gone to a spa hotel in the country and it certainly wasn’t a lake house in Naboo, but Rey was looking forward to their stay nonetheless.

“Cosy.” said Ben sarcastically crawling into the bright orange tent.

Rey giggled. “Come on, it’ll be fun and besides, it’s only for a couple of days.”

It was supposed to be a two man tent but since Ben was a very big man and they had their bags and everything it was a bit of a squeeze.

When Chewie had shown them where they would be sleeping, he winked and told them that they had the tent so they could have some privacy.

“Yeah, we’re not having sex in here.” Ben said as the two of them tried to get comfy. They had been given some time to relax and settle in before dinner.

Rey moaned, genuinely disappointed. “But it’s my birthday.”

“Yes but these walls are incredibly thin and you my dear, are incapable of keeping quiet.” 

“Maybe I want them to hear.” Rey said seductively and went to playfully bit his ear.

“If I had known you were such an exhibitionist.” Ben said as he managed to get his hands under her many layers to tickle her bare skin.

Rey squealed with laughter not just from the tickling but from the hot, open-mouthed kisses Ben was giving her neck.

“Whatever it is you two are doing, can you stop and wash up for dinner?” they heard the heavily accented voice of Chewie say from outside the tent.

“See? You are loud.” Ben said without a hint of embarrassment. Rey hit him with an inflatable camping pillow.

Dinner was a nice friendly affair with everyone sat around the campfire eating their casserole and swapping stories. Rey and Ben were definitely the odd ones out there but they enjoyed hearing about how one camera crew had spent three weeks tracking a mudhorn and other similar stories.

It wasn’t a very late night. Everyone was tired from travelling and they needed to be up early to see the porgs. Rey and Ben said goodnight to everyone and went back to their tent.

Rey had trouble sleeping. It could have been her excitement at seeing porgs in the wild or it could have been the uncomfortable inflatable mattress, the fact they were practically outside and it was cold, or that she wasn’t used to the overwhelming sound of nature that was surrounding them.

She must have eventually fallen asleep though as she woke up very disoriented with Ben tickling her nose with a long piece of grass, because he thought himself so funny.

It was barely dawn when Rey zombie walked outside. Everyone else was already out and about getting ready to head out to the best places to see the porgs. They were better at getting up this early than Rey was it seemed.

She decided to forego the freezing cold shower and just took a mug of freshly brewed coffee instead to wake herself up.

After a quick breakfast, they broke off into small groups and they were led off to different areas by various members of Chewie’s team. Rey and Ben got Chewie himself as a guide and he led them up a hill past the abandoned stone huts of a long forgotten village.

There were already hides all over the island, so the three of them just crawled inside and waited.

It wasn’t long until a female porg popped her head out from the long grass, her big eyes scanning the area for danger. Rey clamped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from making any noise and scaring the porg away.

She was probably grinning like a maniac but she didn’t care, this was amazing. It got even better when the porg emerged from the patch of long grass followed by two fluffy porglets and they hopped over to another patch of long grass.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rey could see that Ben was watching her more than he was watching the porgs.

They stayed there a bit longer but saw nothing else, so Chewie took them down to the bottom of the cliff to a sheltered bay where some rock pools were.

“Hey. This looks like where Kylo and Keira live on Porg Island.” Rey said looking around the place.

“Yes,” said Chewie teasingly. “It’s almost like we based the show off an actual place.”

“Haha,” Rey said taking the joke. “How come you never wrote yourself into the show Chewie?”

The show had just finished its third season and had gained much critical acclaim and success. Rey was so proud of what Ben and Chewie had achieved. She had even been to an award ceremony or two where they had been nominated and won.

“Whenever I imagine myself as an animal, I can only do so as a big shaggy dog or a bear, neither of which live here, so I never bothered to add myself in.” Chewie said.

“And you decided to be a sea serpent, something that doesn’t even exist.” she said to Ben.

“If I’m going to be in a children’s TV programme, I want to be something badass.”

“And yet you made your best friend a porg. It’s been three years and he’s still not happy about it.”

“I know, that’s what makes it so funny.”

They went to a couple more spots around the island and had a few more encounters with the porgs.

When they got back to camp late in the afternoon, Rey was excited to see what photos and footage the others had got. She didn’t care if she was being annoying and pestering them to show her, they seemed to be just as excited to see the birds in the wild as she was.

After dinner they surprised her with a birthday cake. Chewie had made her a cake in the shape of a porg. It wasn’t a perfect likeness but it was a welcome change from the caterpillar cake they always seemed to have, and it tasted delicious.

Rey slept much better that night.

***

On the morning they were due to leave, Rey and Ben took one last walk around the campsite looking over the bay to see if they could get one last glimpse at the porgs nesting there. They had to wait for the rest of the group to pack up their equipment before they could leave on the helicopter, Rey was happy for them to take as long as they needed as she wasn’t too keen on flying in the helicopter again.

“Have you had a nice time?” Ben asked. His arm was round her waist and he was resting his head on hers.

“So good.” Rey said dreamily. “I’m so glad your Uncle Chewie let us come out here.”

“And are you a big sweaty mess?” he said with a hint of a playful smile.

What a weird question she thought, but she answered it all the same. “No I’m not. It’s been perfect coat weather. I don’t like it when it’s too cold not to wear a coat but then you’re too hot if you do, you know what I mean?”

“Yes I know.” Ben smiled at her. Over the past couple of years he had gotten used to her ramblings and loved her more for them.

He took her hand and stepped back, then slowly, without breaking eye contact, he lowered himself down onto one knee.

Rey gasped. “Ben. What are you..? Is this real?” she had to make sure, there had been a couple of times since the day he asked her to move in with him that Ben had been on his knees before her and not all of them were purposely as a joke.

“You said that when I proposed properly, I had to make sure that you weren’t a big sweaty mess, so,”

“Yes.” Rey blurted out, a big smile on her face and tears of joy threatening to roll down her cheeks.

“I haven’t asked yet.” Ben said giving her hand a light squeeze.

She laughed. “Then hurry up, you’re kneeling on gravel and that can’t be too comfortable.”

“Rey Bennet, will you marry me?”

“Of course I will.” As Ben stood up she cupped his face and brought him in for a sweet and tender kiss.

They broke off their kiss but kept holding each other close when they heard cheers and applause over the sound of the wind and waves. Chewie and the rest of the island visitors were stood watching them, one guy even had his film camera out.

Rey bashfully hid her face in Ben’s coat. “Do you think they filmed the whole thing?”

“Probably.” he said kissing her forehead.

“Are we going to be in this documentary?” she said giggling. Ben laughed along with her.

***

“Oh Ben, it’s beautiful.” They had literally just got back home from their trip and Ben had just given her the ring her had gotten for her while they were still in their waterproofs and walking boots.

“You like it?” he said excitedly. “It don’t know whether it’ll fit but we can easily sort that out. It was my Grandmother’s and I wanted you to have it, Mother wanted you to have it.”

Rey slipped the ring out of the box and onto her finger. The solitaire cut diamond on a white gold band was simple but elegant and timeless suiting her perfectly. It fitted perfectly too.

“Really. How long have you been sat on this?” she said admiring the way the diamond caught the light. Shame there was still dirt under her nails.

“Over a year.” Ben said. “She gave it to me and I see that she is a little disappointed that you’re not wearing it every time we see her.”

“Oh, we should probably call her and tell her shouldn’t we?” Rey went to grab her phone and make the call but Ben stopped her.

“I have a better idea.” he said gently caressing her face. “We’ll go and see her tomorrow, after we’ve had a nice long, hot shower and spent the night in a cosy bed surrounded by four solid walls and no wildlife.”

Rey giggled. “You really don’t like camping do you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Oh well. Good plan by the way.” Rey stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

The next morning they made their way to the Alderaanian Embassy feeling fully content and rested after scrubbing a weekend’s worth of dirt off themselves and having a full night’s sleep after belated birthday sex.

Rey was more excited than nervous to tell Leia about the engagement as her soon to be mother-in-law seemed to have been waiting for the news for over a year, but she and Ben hadn’t discussed how they were going to tell her.

Leia wasn’t expecting them but she always made time for them when they popped over.

Mr Threepio the butler lead them up to Leia’s study even though they could have made it up there on their own. He insisted on doing things properly.

Rey kept her left arm behind her back trying to make it look natural, and linked arms with Ben’s with her right.

“Morning Mother.” Ben said as they entered the study where Leia and Kaydel were working.

“Ah Ben and Rey.” Leia smiled at them over the top of the document she was reading. “You’re back from your trip I see and you have perfect timing. We’ve just finished what we needed to do this morning.”

She nodded at Kaydel who started to clear up the papers on the desk as she got up to greet her son.

“Do take your hand out from behind your back Rey. It’s almost like you’re hiding something.” Leia said playfully and Rey could see the sparkle in her eyes, like she knew what she would see.

“I knew I wouldn’t be hiding it for long.” Rey said bring her hand out from behind her and standing more normally.

“Finally!” Leia shouted throwing her arms wide in celebration and knocking a vase off a nearby table in the process. “Oh well I never liked that vase anyway. Come here.”

She pulled them both in for a tight hug. “Why don’t we go into a sitting room and you can tell me all about it.” Leia turned to her assistant. “Can you go get the blue and white box that’s in the bottom of my wardrobe?”

They went into the sitting room and found that Mr Threepio had already set out the tea things and a tray of biscuits for them. They sat down and Rey and Ben told Leia all about their weekend.

“I’m so happy for you.” Leia said clasping her hands together. “But really Ben, could you not have picked a more romantic location?”

Ben scoffed. “You are a hard woman to please. You didn’t mind it did you Rey?”

“I mean it was my birthday and I like porgs.” She shrugged. “So it was fine by me.”

“See? She said fine so it could have been better.” Leia said. Rey could see that Ben was holding back some less than kind words but before she could assure him that that was not what she meant and that there was nothing wrong with his proposal, Kaydel came back with the blue and white box Leia had requested.

“Anyway, we’ll have to make an announcement soon and you’ll have to do an interview with Alderaan Life.”

Ben groaned and slumped back in his chair. Rey tried not to smile at his misfortune. She didn’t mind the idea of doing another interview and photo shoot so much. It was an easy way to get a professional engagement photo.

“Then we can get down to planning. I’ve already made a start.” Leia opened the box to reveal that it was full of samples, notebooks and magazines.

Ben sat up and leaned forward. “How long have you been planning this Mother?”

“Not long really. This magazine’s from February.” Leia picked up the bridal magazine that was on top but Rey suspected there were some at the bottom of the box from much further back.

“So you’ve been planning our wedding way before we were ready to make that commitment.” Ben said his forearms on his knees. “Do we have any say in any of it?”

Rey had stayed quiet. Secretly she was glad to have someone do the planning because she had no idea where to start, but she knew she had to be a bit assertive and not let Leia make all the decisions.

“Of course you do. It’s just I eloped and didn’t have a wedding as such and you’re my only child so this is my only chance to do this. I admit I may have gotten a bit carried away, so if you want to do it by yourselves that’s fine, just know that I insist on paying for the whole thing.”

Rey and Ben looked at each other. Over the two years they had been together they had gotten good at knowing what the other was thinking and on occasions such as these, they agreed on what they should say.

“It’s alright Leia.” Rey said gently. “We would be honored if you would help plan our wedding.”

“Yeah,” Ben said. “As long as you haven’t planned the whole thing and are springing it on us next month.”

They all laughed, breaking the tension in the room.

“Don’t worry.” said Leia. “I was going to suggest waiting a year or so as I presume you want all your bridesmaids to be able to walk down the aisle?”

***

Since they had been away for her birthday, they had also missed Alexa’s first birthday.

Alexandra Victoria was the youngest and the last of the Hux children, and she shared her birthday with Rey and had won Ben his bet with Lando. Like her older siblings and father she had the same ginger hair and blue eyes and Rey thought she was the sweetest of them all.

Having got a bit more used to newborn babies thanks to Jess’ baby Ava, Rey wasn’t as daunted to meet the newest addition as she once would have been. It might have been because they shared a birthday, but Rey thought they had a special bond. She couldn’t talk or walk yet but Alexa always smiled at Rey and wanted to be held by her when she was around. It wasn’t enough to make her want one of her own just yet, but now Rey was more open to a family of her own one day.

Though, of course, having a new baby sister had put the others’ noses out a bit. Alfie’s because he was no longer the baby and centre of attention, and Alice’s because Rey suspected she liked being the only girl.

They went round to the Huxes’ house for Sunday lunch not only to give Alexa her present but to share their news.

Alice answered the door just as she’d always done. There was no way for her parents to stop her so they just looked on in case there was any trouble.

“You missed Alexa’s birthday.” Alice said accusingly once she’d let them in.

“I’m sure Alexa didn’t mind.” Ben said hanging up his jacket. “Besides we’ve brought her a present now.”

Ben looked down to see if Rey would say anything but she was distracted by encouraging a happy smiling Alexa to crawl down the hallway to her.

“Do I get presents?” Alfie said hugging Ben’s leg and looking up at him with his big blue eyes.

“No, your birthday’s not for another week.” Ben said prying Alfie off his leg and picking him up. “How old are you going to be?” Alfie held up three little fingers. “Good boy.”

Rey picked Alexa up and they went into the sitting room as lunch wasn’t ready yet, and the others came and joined them.

She helped Alexa unwrap her present but she was more interested in the wrapping paper and the box it came in rather than the toy itself.

“What did you get for your birthday Rey?” Bertie asked, polite as always. He was sat on the sofa next to her while Alice and Alfie were stood in front of her, Alice to see if she could get some attention while Alfie was eyeing the toy his sister wasn’t interested in.

“Ben got me this.” She stuck out her left hand to show him her ring. She heard Gwen gasp from where she sat on the other sofa next to Ben.

“It’s not very big.” said Alice peering at it.

“Not all presents have to be big, especially if there’s meaning behind them.” Rey said.

“What does this mean?” asked Bertie.

“It means,” Rey didn’t even try to hide the excitement in her voice or her big goofy grin. “Ben and I are getting married.”

It took a moment for it to register but then Alice squealed, “I get to be a bridesmaid!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
